The government has abandoned a scheme to modernise the national register of residents’ details which has already cost €90 million of public money.

Caretaker interior minister Ronald Plasterk told parliament the decision was ‘sad’, but the heavily delayed project would take at least another three years to complete, making the cost unjustifiable, NOS reported.

The aim of the plan was to create a central database of personal details, such as name, address, marital status and nationality, which all government agencies would be able to access at any time. Currently this information is held by municipal councils, who update the register once a day.

Attempts to modernise the register date back to 2000 but have been dogged by IT issues. Plasterk said he would liaise with local authorities and other relevant parties on how to shut down the project.