Additional premises are still being sought to store the 2,800 e-voting machines that will not fit in a new centralised premises in Gormanston, Co Meath.
Some 3,000 of the 7,500 e-voting machines have now been moved from constituencies to Gormanston Aerodrome. However, it will only be able to accommodate 4,700 machines.
The electronic voting equipment housed at the aerodrome is in locked and insulated metal containers which each hold 102 voting machines, together with ancillary electronic voting equipment.
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said it was not possible to be definitive in advance as to exactly how many machines would fit inside the containers.
"An initial estimate suggested that each container might possibly accommodate 108 machines; in the event the containers procured can each store 102 machines."
Fine Gael's Fergus O'Dowd recently accused the Government of a "monumental blunder" in underestimating the storage needed. However the spokesman said it had been known from the outset that Gormanston would not be able to store all the equipment. Another premises was still being sought.
The controversial electronic voting machines were used on a pilot basis in the 2002 general election, but plans to introduce the system all over the State were halted when concerns arose about the possibility of tampering with the machines and the lack of an audit trail.
In a reply to a recent Dáil question from Independent deputy Tony Gregory, Minister for the Environment John Gormley said he was "considering the next steps to be taken in relation to the electronic voting and counting project".
About €52 million was spent on the electronic voting scheme, with up to €1 million being spent annually in storing the machines in the constituencies.
