(Cavan) asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he is aware that television reception in the Swanlinbar area of Cavan is very poor, and if he will take the necessary steps to have proper reception provided in this area, particularly in view of the fact that it was intimated some 12 months ago that a survey of the area was being carried out with a view to improving reception.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Cavan Television Reception
14.
The improvement of television reception is primarily a matter for Radio Telefís Éireann. I understand that the area referred to by the Deputy is one of a number of areas where the quality of television reception is below the normal standard and that it was included in a national survey of such areas which was made by Radio Telefís Éireann. I am advised by the Authority that their immediate plans for the improvement of reception are based on giving priority to areas of maximum population and they cannot say, at present, when the Swanlinbar area will be reached.
(Cavan): Is the intention in putting this rural area on the long finger another method of driving the people out of rural Ireland? Will the Minister agree that in an area between Swanlinbar, Cavan, and Ballinamore, Leitrim, there is no television reception, that reception is actually nil? If the Minister accepts that, as apparently he does, will he agree that he is extracting licence fees of £5 from the holders of television sets there by false pretences? Would he consider accepting the radio licence fee of £1 5s until such time as a transposer is installed to rectify the position and provide normal television reception in and around Swanlinbar?
That seems to be a separate question, the question of fees.
I sympathise with people whose television sets are unable to get proper reception but I do not know of any country that reduces the television licence fees in whatever may be areas of defective reception. It is a matter for decision for the people in the area whether they get a television set or not. As the Deputy probably knows, this is an immensely complicated problem. There are 900 widely scattered areas in which a tremendous amount of testing of a purely technical character has to be undertaken. Testing very often has extremely baffling results in this and other countries. Furthermore, we are limited in the number of wavelengths we can adopt under international regulations. That further complicates the problem. Radio Telefís Éireann are undertaking a campaign to ascertain what areas require improvement in reception and they are bound to do it in rotation. They naturally take the areas where there is the greatest population to be attended to. Transposer stations have to be erected and Radio Telefís Éireann have to provide the capital for these stations. They are doing the best they can under these circumstances.
(Cavan): Arising further out of the Minister's reply——
We cannot debate this matter all day.
(Cavan): It is a short question. Arising further out of the Minister's statement that he proposes to devote his attention to the thickly populated areas and neglect the sparsely populated areas, would he not agree that the amenity of a television service is much more important in a remote rural area than it is in a thickly populated area in which there are other amenities, such as picture houses, etc., etc., and will he not devote his attention instead to those areas which are much more in need of this amenity than are towns or thickly populated areas?
I have not said this concerns towns. It concerns the extent of the area and the population living within it. It does not necessarily mean that the areas in which priorities are being given are towns. That is very far from being the case. However, I will ask Radio Telefís Éireann to look again at the area to see if they have the population figures correctly, if that is what the Deputy has in mind.