E-voting machines may end up being scrapped

THE Government may struggle to recover any of the €55m wasted on electronic voting machines, admitting they may end up being scrapped rather than sold.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan quipped that Irish pubs around the world could offer new homes for the machines, so that emigrants would have the chance to vent their electoral anger on the units.

“When the hi-tech machine was checked out it didn’t do the job. They are valueless. There may be a market for them in Irish-themed pubs across the world.”

Environment Minister Phil Hogan yesterday said he wanted to “draw a line” under the fiasco by selling the machines, but acknowledged no buyer might be found.

“The market is to be tested to see if there are any interested parties that may want to buy the machines. While being optimistic we also need to be realistic. It is possible that no reasonable or acceptable offer for sale will be received.”

The Cabinet yesterday agreed that a request for tenders be published before the end of month seeking proposals for “either the purchase of the equipment or for its disposal through a process of recovery as waste, consistent with environmental and other obligations”.

“I want to finally draw a line under the electronic voting project and also see that the equipment is disposed of properly,” said Mr Hogan, who added that “€54.756m has been wasted on the project to date and every effort must be made now to sell the equipment and get as much of these costs back as possible.”

The idea was the brainchild of Bertie Ahern’s Fianna Fáil government at the height of the boom and was promoted by former ministers Noel Dempsey and Martin Cullen.

The machines were first used on a pilot basis in a small number of constituencies in the 2002 general election and again in the Nice referendum later that year.

However, the plug was pulled on a nationwide rollout of e-voting for the 2004 European and local elections after an expert committee ruled against using the system.

Most of the machines are stored in Gormanston army camp, with 14 machines in the Custom House, Dublin, and a small number held locally by returning officers. Storage alone costs €145,000 a year.

The Government is looking to sell, recycle or dispose of 7,500 voting machines; 154 reading units for uploading candidate details and downloading votes; 12,842 ballot modules used to store votes cast; 292 cases for carrying the units and modules; 1,232 transport and storage trolleys and 2,142 hand trolleys; 4,787 metal tilt tables the machines sit on; and 918 tray attachments.