Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I second the amendment. I would like to address the Minister of State in terms of my concern about the results of the 2002 general election in Dublin West, Dublin North and Meath in which we now know discrepancies occurred. What effect did those discrepancies have on the outcome of that election? I am not suggesting the result in terms of those elected would change. However, if the results contained discrepancies, the extent of which we are not aware, what can the Minister do to assure me and others that the result was accurately obtained?

The commission established to investigate electronic voting has condemned the system and could not say with any accuracy that it would work well on 11 June. How do we know it worked correctly in the 2002 general election? Will the Minister of State ask the commission to investigate the system used in that election in which discrepancies have been highlighted?