Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

The current Minister, Deputy Roche, completes the line-up of The Three Stooges. Has this Cabinet sub-committee reported? If not why is Deputy Roche speaking on television and issuing press releases to the effect it has been decided to use this system but not in the general election? Is the implication that it is alright to use it in the European election but not in a general election? The Taoiseach says the report of the commission was comprehensive. It certainly was. It was a comprehensive indictment of the system's reliability and confidentiality to be used in these circumstances after spending €52 million of taxpayers' money on it.

Finally, one of the commission's most alarming findings was that a testing of the count software found that where two or more candidates were tied and one had to be eliminated the software eliminated the wrong candidate. The Taoiseach tells us it is alright to use that system in the European and local elections. If the Cabinet sub-committee has not reported when will it do so and what is the Government position and policy on the waste of €52 million of taxpayers' money? The former Minister, Deputy Cullen, is still in office, Deputy Noel Dempsey is struggling with ESB price rises and Deputy Roche is preparing to join them.

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