Ireland’s electoral system is not fit for purpose when the State is the last country in the EU still counting votes to fill European parliament seats, the Seanad has heard.

Fianna Fáil Seanad leader Darragh O’Brien said he had finished a count in a Dublin electoral ward yesterday morning after 76 hours and this was unacceptable. “I am not casting any aspersions on the staff there but the process is wrong and we have to look at how we can streamline it,” he said.

Mr O’Brien said they had to move forward with electoral reform and he believed there should be a permanent electoral commission. “As an Oireachtas we must have a serious think about the establishment of a permanent electoral commission,” Mr O’Brien said.

“That we are the last country in Europe that is still counting votes and trying to fill seats in the European Parliament, which is a very important parliament, shows the system is not fit for purpose. Far be it from me to speak about electronic voting – I am not going there.” But he called for Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan to come into the House “to discuss whether the Seanad can do a job in this regard”.

Labour Seanad leader Ivana Bacik agreed the way the counts played out had again shown the need for an electoral system. She added, however, that she was struck by remarks by RTÉ commentator and historian John Bowman about the "visible way in which counts are dealt with here".