Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 206: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the cost to date in each constituency for the design, manufacture, transport, security storage and training in each county since the electronic voting machine inception; and if each individual cost can be given for each county in question, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40391/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The total expenditure on the development and roll-out of the electronic voting system to date is some €51.3 million, the bulk of which has been incurred in purchasing the voting machines and ancillary equipment. These costs were borne centrally, are not apportioned or disaggregated on the basis of individual areas and are set out in the following table.

Responsibility for the security and safe storage of manual voting electoral materials (such as ballot boxes, stamping instruments and stationery) has been a matter for the Returning Officers, who are statutorily responsible for conducting the polls. Accordingly, similar responsibility was assigned to them in relation to the storage of the electronic voting machines and equipment. Information on local storage and related costs is therefore available on the basis of the locations where they are stored. Based on the figures received in my Department from Returning Officers, the total costs for storage of the electronic voting equipment (including the cost of insurance, service charges, rates, heating, etc.), for each location are set out in the following table.

Based on provisional information from Returning Officers, a total of some €139,000 was expended in the first half of 2008 in respect of storage of the electronic voting equipment. Full annual cost data for 2008 will be provided to my Department in due course.

In 2007, over 60% of the electronic voting machines (4,762 in total) were moved to a central storage facility located at Gormanston Army Camp. Costs incurred to date in respect of the movement and storage of this equipment are some €328,000. These are largely one-off costs related to the preparation of the facility, transportation of the machines and the acquisition of storage containers. The available capacity at this location has now been fully utilised.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 207: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on terminating the electronic voting machine project and transferring the funding to meet the needs of persons awaiting modification of their houses under the essential repairs and disabled persons scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40392/08]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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I am at present considering the next steps to be taken in relation to the electronic voting project. In this, I am taking into account the work of the Commission on Electronic Voting, which has examined the system, relevant experiences and developments internationally, the need to maintain public confidence in the electoral process, as well as the provisions in the Programme for Government relating to electoral reform generally.