John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

As the Deputy will be aware, to date some €51.33 million has been spent on the development and roll-out of the system. In addition, there have been associated storage costs. For 2008 these amounted to €204,000 - lower than those for the previous years. Storage costs for the years 2004 to 2007, inclusive, were €658,000, €696,000, €706,000 and €489,000, respectively. Pending the removal of the machines there will continue to be ongoing storage costs. This was factored into the analysis and informed the decision to end the electronic voting project.

This matter was dealt with in chapter 9 of the annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, which was published on 11 September and which states:

It is in the nature of large ICT projects that they can be overtaken by technical developments or that the solutions developed may not achieve user acceptance. In such instances, the challenge for management of projects is to recognise when they are not working as intended and to act appropriately. The decision to abandon a project that is not working is the correct course because it avoids spending further public moneys – both capital and current – in a non-effective way.

It concludes by stating that reasonable steps are being taken to wind down the project and to reuse or dispose of the assets that can no longer be utilised. The Deputy has asked further questions that I intend to answer. I spoke to representatives from Nedap-Powervote, who have indicated the approximate costs. I do not believe they are exorbitant and I will keep the Deputy informed at all times as to the progress being made.

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