Fergus O'Dowd
Question:320 Mr. O’Dowd asked the Minister for Finance the breakdown of the cost of the Commission on Electronic Voting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34460/06]
View answerTuesday, 24 October 2006
Questions (249)
Written answers
The Commission on Electronic Voting was appointed by the Government on 1 March 2004. The Commission, which was independent in the performance of its functions, was placed on a statutory footing by the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 2004, which was enacted on 18th May, 2004. As set out in Section 22 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 2004, the Commission was dissolved on 4th September 2006, two months after the presentation of the last of its reports to the Ceann Comhairle.
The Government formally decided in March 2004 that the funding for the Commission would be provided via the Central Fund with a procedure for approval of payment by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
Section 25(5) of the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 2004, states that the accounts of the Commission on Electronic Voting shall be submitted by the Minister for Finance to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit and, immediately after the audit, a copy of the accounts and a copy of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the accounts shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.
The accounts of the Commission on Electronic Voting for the years ended 31st December 2004 and 31st December 2005, as well as the accounts for 2006 up to the date of the Commission's dissolution on 4th September 2006, have been submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit. These, when audited by the C&AG, become the definitive record of the Commission's expenditure, and it would not be appropriate to put details of these un-audited accounts into the public domain in advance of this audit being completed.
As required by Section 25(5) of the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 2004, I will immediately after the audit lay a copy of the audited accounts and a copy of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the accounts before each House of the Oireachtas.