The Minster for the Environment Martin Cullen hit back at the Opposition's comments over the Electronic Voting and Counting Commission today.
"Does the Opposition want the issues raised on electronic voting addressed or not?" Mr Cullen asked.
"An independent commission, which was asked for by the three main Opposition parties and others has now been established. The Commission should be allowed to get on with its work, unfettered by political comment and interference," the Minister said.
The commission has been set up to inquire into electronic voting and will have the power to recommend its postponement or abandonment when it produces its first report the Government has insisted.
Earlier the Labour leader Mr Pat Rabbitte called into question the method of appointment of the members of the proposed commission.
"We have a situation where the person who would normally be the first name on such a list, the Ombudsman, is excluded because she publicly raised some questions about the reliability of the proposed system," Mr Rabbitte said.
Fine Gael's environment spokesman, Mr Bernard Allen, also criticised the fact that the Ombudsman was not on the commission.
"Given that the Commission appears to follow the model of the Standards in Public Office Commission it is significant that the Ombudsman and the Comptroller and Auditor General are excluded," he said.
The Government insisted their absence has nothing to do with queries they raised about electronic voting.
The members of the Electronic Voting and Counting Commission are High Court judge, Mr Justice Matthew P. Smith, Mr Kieran Coughlan, clerk of the Dáil; Ms Deirdre Lane, clerk of the Seanad; Mr Danny O'Hare, the former head of Dublin City University; and Mr Brian Sweeney, chairman and former chief executive of Siemens Ireland.
Rabbitte and Bernard Allen have overstepped the mark in calling into question the integrity of the Commission," Mr Cullen said.
