Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

This matter has been raised because of the Carrickmines case. I looked at the Supreme Court judgment on Carrickmines and without going into the details — I do not have the time nor is it necessary — this case bears no relationship to the making of an order under section 48 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2001. Section 48 states clearly and, indeed, unambiguously provides that the Minister may make such adaptations of or modifications to the relevant statutory electoral code to enable the election to be conducted using electronic voting and counting.

As one of the Opposition Members indicated in committee, this view may be challenged in the courts. From the legal advice we have obtained, however, we are confident the section 48 more than adequately covers the extension of electronic voting to elections in June this year.