KMK Metals Recycling was the preferred bidder for 7,5000 electronic voting machines being discarded by the Irish government. The Tullamore County Offaly recycler entered a tender of €70,267 to acquire the equipment for disassembly. The electronic voting machines were never used.
Initially purchased at a cost of around €50m, the decision not to bring the voting machines into service was made in April 2009. Since that time, the machines and supporting equipment were in mothballs, generating additional storage expenses of €140,000 per year, according to the Irish Ministry for Environment, which was responsible for organising the sale. The failed project cost the Irish taxpayer a total of €55m.