asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if any plans are at present with the Broadcasting Authority for the provision of wired television facilities for viewers in Cork City; and, if so, when a decision will be made in this regard; and if he is aware of the anxiety of Cork Corporation to avoid the erection of large numbers of unsightly TV aerials within the Borough.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Facilities for Wired Television in Cork.
105.
I am aware that Cork Corporation is anxious to avoid the erection of large numbers of unsightly television aerials within the Borough and that a firm has applied for permission to establish and operate a wired television service in Cork. The Broadcasting Authority has no function in the matter of the provision of wired television facilities but I am considering the whole question in the light of the provisions of the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1926.
Is the Minister aware that in some parts of the country viewers have to pay a £4 licence and see only one station?
The legal position is that anyone in possession of equipment of this kind must pay the licence fee. In the South of Ireland, when our own subsidiary stations come into operation, many viewers will get only one station, our own.
Would the Minister not consider making a recommendation to the Authority to ensure that these people who have television aerials in that part of the country where they cannot get Telefís Éireann until the boosters are brought into operation do not pay the fee which is only for our station?
That has no relation to the question asked.