Opposition parties have been critical of today's appointment by the Government of the Independent Electronic Voting and Counting Commission and have questioned the panel's independence as the members had been selected without consultation.
The Commission is charged with investigating the proposed electronic voting system, and will issue its findings by early May, less than five weeks before polling day.
The leader of the Labour Party, Pat Rabbitte, said the Commission should have been agreed with the opposition and said it was " unprecedented in a modern parliamentary democracy for a government to proceed with such a fundamental change to our electoral system on a unilateral basis and in the face of the unanimous opposition of all non-government parties in the House."
Fine Gael's Bernard Allen called on Minister Cullen to" immediately halt" what he said was the Government's "onward rush" towards introducing the electronic system. He also called on Minister Cullen to appoint a "truly independent" Commission.
The Government earlier named the members of the Independent Electronic Voting and Counting Commission.
The Commission will be chaired by High Court Judge Matthew Smith. T he other members are the Clerks of the Dáil and the Seanad, Kieran Coughlan and Deirdre Lane; Dr Danny O'Hare, chairman of the Information Society Commission; and Brian Sweeney, chairperson of Siemens Dublin.