The Labour spokesman on the environment, Mr Eamon Gilmore, called on the Government to spend the money earmarked for electronic voting on facilities for the disadvantaged.
"Can the Minister for the Environment justify spending €50 million of taxpayers' money on his favourite toys?" he asked. "Is there not something more useful his Department could have found for the spending of this money, like providing bathroom extensions for people with disabilities who are waiting for three years, or providing heating in houses requiring it?"
The Minister, Mr Cullen, said that the funding for the project did not come from his Department. "The money comes from the central fund." He added that there would be a strong payback over the years in the context of the overall cost of elections.
Mr Cullen said that the total estimated cost of the project, excluding training costs, was €44 million, including VAT. The voter-education and awareness campaign was estimated to cost €5 million, of which €1 million was VAT. "This programme will include approximately €1 million to promote awareness of the polls in June and encourage the electorate to vote.
"The campaign will also include a mail shot to every household in the country.
"The cost of the awareness campaign at the general election pilot for electronic voting was €263,000, and not €80,000 as has been wrongly quoted.
"This is consistent with the cost of the current campaign which is for the whole country and also incorporates the voter awareness campaign and the national mail shot."
He said that the general principles of the necessary legislation had been agreed, adding that it would be brought before the House with "all speed, but with great care."
Mr Cullen repeated that if the independent commission, appointed this week, identified a fundamental problem with the system, the Government would not proceed with electronic voting.
He said that detailed planning and preparations for the countrywide use of electronic voting and counting in the June elections were proceeding.
To date, 5,190 voting machines had been delivered to returning offices, software had been subjected to continuous testing, training of returning officers and their staff was continuing, and a public education and awareness campaign on the new system was under way.
The Fine Gael spokesman on the environment, Mr Bernard Allen, asked how the Minister could reconcile his "bluster" about the technological strength of the system with the statement released by the Irish Computer Society and its chief executive for software engineering arguing that any system must include a paper-based voter-verified audit trail.
Mr Cullen said he disagreed with the group.
