Pat Moylan (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister and thank him for the information given to us to date and the work he has done, which is very much appreciated. I welcome the introduction of electronic voting, which has been in place in certain constituencies. It is very important to look back at the old system and acknowledge the problems that existed. I can recall at the last local elections where a Fine Gael and a Fianna Fáil councillor sweated overnight as a full box of ballot papers, containing 360 votes, were discovered unstamped and deemed invalid as a result of human error. Those two councillors, who I thought were dead certs, only hung on by the skin of their teeth and either one could have lost his seat by one vote.

This is a better system and I compliment the people who have pushed it forward. Candidates had to ensure they had personal agents inside the polling station, principally to watch that the ballot papers were stamped before the voters took them. The onus is on the voter to ensure his voting paper is stamped, but that does not always happen. I have been involved in a great many counts and have seen votes spoiled simply because the ballot paper was not stamped. I saw that happening down through the years in all elections.

With electronic voting, all preferences will be examined. In the past, a bundle of ballot papers would be taken, which could have positive or negative implications for a candidate. I heard a man on radio say that he was not happy because he could not spoil his vote. The best thing a person could do in that case is to stay away altogether and join the 40% who do not vote. I recall that in 1998 a system similar to this was shown by some of the Department's officials who are here today to members of the General Council of County Councils at an annual conference. At that time, it was considered to be a move in the right direction, that we were moving forward with technology. I listened to people on the Opposition benches say they disagreed with this but I speak every other day to their party supporters who say this has to be a new and better system. I cannot fully understand the Opposition's position. Members on all sides have questions but they are prepared to take on board a new system.

The Minister has said that the results of each count will be announced and candidates will not have to wait, as happened in north County Dublin, to hear the result as the announcement is made. Candidates will get an indication as each count progresses and that is to be welcomed.

We must go out there and sell the system and we must ensure that the people who will vote in June will have an opportunity to look at the system and see how it works. It not good enough to go only to the bigger centres; people in rural areas must be afforded the opportunity to see the system at the post office or local library.

We must also bring this system into our schools, particularly secondary schools, so that young people will be interested in the political process and will be only too glad to employ the new voting technology. We hope that a larger percentage of young people will vote as a result. Electronic voting affords an ideal opportunity for disabled people to vote. In the past, elderly bed-ridden people could not exercise their right to vote in elections, but electronic polling booths could be brought into institutions for the elderly to enable them to vote. We already have postal voting but electronic voting will provide increased opportunities, especially for the elderly.

Electronic voting was introduced for divisions in both Houses of the Oireachtas. In the past we thought it could never happen but time moves on and it has happened. There are no problems with voting results in the Houses of the Oireachtas and it will be the same with the new voting system for European and local elections.