James Bannon (Fine Gael)

Senator Brennan referred to the fact that the former leader of Fine Gael said he was in favour of e-voting. We are all in favour of it. Fine Gael is on the record of both Houses in favour of this process, but we want reliability and a secure system. That is what is at issue and what has been the bone of contention since the concept of e-voting was first proposed.

The Minister did not listen to the concerns of the other political parties, or those expressed by computer experts. As I said before, the actions of the Government are undermining public confidence in the system. At this late stage this needs to be addressed. I call on the Minister of State to withdraw the system and revert back to the old system until the necessary safeguards are put in place. As Senator McCarthy said, there are serious concerns about the software to be used. We have been misled. We were told initially that six companies vetted the system, and last week we found out that only two companies vetted it. There is a huge contradiction in this area. Public confidence is undermined, which is not good for Irish democracy.