The report which appeared in the Irish Independent this morning stating that the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Deputy de Valera, will bring proposals to Government next month seeking to privatise the RTE transmission network is a matter of major concern. The reasons for this concern are not only in regard to digital terrestrial television broadcasting but in regard to the potential other uses to which this country-wide system of strategically placed equipment could be put.
If the agenda is to remove this important infrastructural asset from public to private ownership, and if that disposal is based on an estimated valuation of £30 million to £40 million, then the Minister must be prevented from doing that. I demand that the Minister clarify if the alleged valuation is based on the broadcasting value only or if it is based on the telephony or technology conversion potential as well.
The Minister in her speech at the commencement of the Second Stage debate on the Broadcasting Bill, 1999, stated that the Bill enabled her to designate a company, which will be licensed by the Director of Telecommunications Regulation, to construct and operate the digital terrestrial television infrastructure. She further stated that RTE will be a minor partner with a shareholding of up to 40% and that the company will be mandated to build and operate the digital terrestrial television structure and to promote the development of multimedia services and the information society. It would appear all this has gone out the window.
The Minister has a responsibility to say what has brought about this fundamental change in direction in regard to the designated company's composition. Keeping the RTE transmission network in public ownership whereby leases can be negotiated which would be commercially attractive but where the State would get the optimum value, should be the policy priority for the Minister. This morning's newspaper report indicates that the Minister is going in the opposite direction. The House deserves a full and frank explanation.