Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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Question 576: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if it is proposed to use the electronic voting equipment currently in storage; if he has noted the Nedap-Powervote machines similar to those being stored here are being supplied to American states complete with the facility for paper records of votes cast; if he proposes to modify the machines purchased by Ireland with this facility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8858/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware that the Nedap electronic voting machines have secured federal certification in the US to enable them to be used at elections in that jurisdiction. To comply with statutory electoral requirements in some parts of the US, the Nedap voting machine has a facility to connect to a separate printer, which is not supplied by Nedap, to enable paper records of votes to be printed, if required. Governments in different jurisdictions, including the US, adopt varying approaches to electoral requirements according to their own circumstances and priorities. In worldwide terms, electronic voting and counting systems equipped with a paper record of each vote cast are the exception, not the norm.

The timing of the further use of the electronic voting and counting system is dependent on the progress made with the work being undertaken by my Department and by the Commission on Electronic Voting in relation to it, the associated decisions arising in this regard and on the dates at which future polls may be held.