During heated exchanges Taoiseach Bertie Ahern blamed the Opposition for the failure of electronic voting.
Mr Ahern said that the Opposition had objected to the system, adding that it should have taken a more mature attitude to a system which worked particularly well in the last two elections.
"The voting worked perfectly. All the analysis showed the voting system worked perfectly. However, the Opposition would not agree to it and took off on a political exercise engaging people from around the world to find flaws with it.
"That is a disgrace. Any waste of money on the voting system lies at the Opposition's door." Earlier, Mr Rabbitte challenged the Taoiseach on the cost of the project and queried if the machines would be used for the general election. If the answer was no, why had the State spent €62 million of taxpayers' money on machines that it was not proposed to use?
The Comptroller and Auditor General, he said, had reckoned it cost about €1 million annually to store them. He had read that the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, had now relocated most of them to a central location. Had the State bought out the leases where the machines were being stored? Mr Rabbitte said that the Commission on Electronic Voting had found that the software was unreliable and that the machines were not adequately tested.
"Despite these findings, Deputy Noel Dempsey, Deputy [ Martin] Cullen and Deputy Roche, the storage Minister, will go before the people again and ask them seriously to vote for them. What kind of country is this?"
He suggested that Mr Ahern should apologise to the Irish people for the waste of money involved. "There are many other areas in which this Government has distinguished itself by wasting money," he added.
Mr Ahern said that he had felt embarrassed a few evenings ago when he watched France, a country with a population of more than 60 million, receive the results of its highest poll ever - 85 per cent of the population - within two hours.
He added that he had to apologise to the people of Meath a few days ago because, despite Ireland being a modern, technology-driven country, it was reverting to the humble pencil.
"With a bit of luck, our election results will be available within about five days, as we count and check the bins and buckets to see if a vote blew off the file. It is an embarrassment.
"I hope that in the next Dáil we will be able to rid ourselves of the horrendous difficulties we experience in trying to be a modern country." Mr Rabbitte said he had asked Mr Ahern whether people would vote by way of electronic voting, but he had not replied.
"On the last day of the Dáil, it is the first time I have ever heard the Taoiseach admitting to being embarrassed, and he ought to be embarrassed. Some €62 million has gone down the drain, and that is symptomatic of the waste we have witnessed."
