An Oireachtas committee has voted to endorse the Government's electronic voting system just a week after it heard serious reservations about the safety of the system.
The Joint Oireachtas Committee of Environment and Local Government voted by nine votes to four in favour of the system after its Fianna Fáil and PD members gave unanimous support to the initiative.
Those supporting the plan included the committee chairman, Mr Sean Power, who expressed concern about the system last week after an academic said it could not be trusted. Mr Power also wanted Mr Cullen to spend no more money on the system while the committee was still examining the plans.
The vote to endorse the system was taken after the committee heard from senior officials in the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, which is overseeing the project.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, has consistently defended the €38 million system, which will be used in every constituency in the local and European elections next year.
Labour's environment spokesman, Mr Eamon Gilmore, accused the Government parties of "bulldozing" the plans through the committee.
He said the doubts raised by several expert witnesses were still valid even after yesterday's presentations.
"The Government is now proceeding with electronic voting in the face of serious doubts expressed by the Opposition parties. This is bad for democracy, and for confidence in our voting system."
He suggested to the meeting that trials on electronic voting should be extended at the elections next year, but that the complete changeover should not be made until the system was further tested.
An academic at the National University of Ireland at Maynooth, Ms Margaret McGaley, told the committee last week that the system should be modified radically if it is to be used in the elections.
She said it was impossible to verify the outcome of the electronic vote, and said the system posed "a genuine threat to our democracy".
