Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 212: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 220 of 13 November 2008, if he will provide up-to-date figures for the cost of storage of the electronic voting machines both centrally stored and not centrally stored; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6491/09]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Responsibility for the security and safe storage of manual voting electoral materials (such as ballot boxes, stamping instruments and stationery) is a matter for the Returning Officers, who are statutorily responsible for conducting the polls. Accordingly, similar responsibility was assigned to Returning Officers to make the necessary arrangements in relation to the storage of the electronic voting machines and equipment.

The following table sets out information in respect of the cost of local storage arrangements in 2008, based on information received in my Department from Returning Officers.

In 2007, over 60% of the electronic voting machines (some 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.