James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I am not happy with this matter as it is. At this late stage the Government should withdraw the introduction of e-voting in the interest of confidence in the system. While I accept that electronic voting represents the way forward, it should not be introduced now. The European and local elections will take place in 14 weeks and I do not believe it will be possible to train a staff of approximately 15,000 in that time. We may have difficulty in getting staff to man the polling stations throughout the country. I ask the Minister of State to advise the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Cullen, to postpone the introduction of e-voting until after the local and European elections to allow time for testing in the interests of the people. People are fed up and their confidence has been undermined. This matter is the topic of almost every radio and television show in the past fortnight and particularly in the past week.

As the Cathaoirleach was told this morning, Members on this side of the House may take the matter further and ask the President not to sign the Bill into law.