Opposition parties have claimed that yesterday's Commission on Electronic Voting report has vindicated their concerns about electronic voting and is an indictment of the Government's approach to the issue.
Fine Gael said that the concerns raised about the software used in the system were in contrast to the Government's and the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's insistence in 2004 that the system was accurate and good.
Fine Gael environment spokesman Fergus O'Dowd said the Government was dragged "kicking and screaming around to the idea of establishing a commission to investigate the chosen method of electronic voting that had inspired such public distrust".
He added: "It was the Government that chose that system. And it is the Government that stands accused today."
The Labour Party called on the Government to abandon the system, claiming it was "simply unworkable", and that the machines should be sold.
Labour Party spokesman Eamon Gilmore also called on the current Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, who oversaw the roll-out of the €50 million system in early 2004 as minister for the environment before its use was suspended, to resign.
"The commission concludes that the voting machines are of good quality but that it is unable to recommend the software," he said.
"This is a bit like saying of a new car, 'the wheels and body are sound, but unfortunately the engine does not work'."
Green Party environment spokesman Ciarán Cuffe said it was "astounding that the report concludes that the paper system is superior to the electronic system".
"The Green Party supports electronic voting, provided that there is a voter verifiable audit trail, and provided that there are valid economic arguments for its introduction."
Sinn Féin environment spokesman Arthur Morgan said his party had always supported a paper trail electronic voting system, and that this position was vindicated by the commission report.
However, Minister for the Environment Dick Roche rejected suggestions that the commission's report raised questions about the Government's support of the initial system.
"What the commission is saying is that the machines can be confidently recommended with minor changes," he said.