E-voting machines sold for €70,000

The electronic voting machines are to be sold on for just over €70,000 and disposed.

The 7,500 devices - which have cost the taxpayer almost €55 million - will be scrapped and recycled by a company in a company in Co. Offaly.

The e-voting system was piloted in a number of locations during the 2002 General Election but never used.

Former Fianna Fáil Environment Ministers Noel Dempsey and Martin Cullen oversaw the decision to purchase 7,500 electronic voting machines - at a cost of €50 million.

The controversial equipment was tested during the 2002 General Election - but the system was subsequently shelved - mounting up storage fees of just under €5 million.

The Environment Minister Phil Hogan has said that the e-voting machines have a new owner,

"They have now been put up for sale and tender over the last few months and we have reached agreement with a company called KMK Metals Recycling Ltd Co. Offaly, for the purchase of those machines for recycling and reuse to the value of €70,000".

Over 22,000 additional pieces of equipment for the machines are also being disposed of as part of the deal.