asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the up-to-date position in regard to the provision of proper television reception in the area of Lehanemore in the Beara peninsula of County Cork.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Radio and Television Reception.
14.
RTE are aware that reception in the Lehanemore area is less than adequate and hope that modifications which they intend to make to the Caherciveen transposer will improve the position by providing better coverage of RTE 1 and simultaneously making reception of RTE 2 available there. RTE do not expect that it will be possible to have this work done before the end of 1981 and an evaluation of the extent of the improvement of reception in the Lehanemore area cannot be made until the modifications have been made.
The Minister may or may not be aware that this question has been raised in the Dáil and by direct representation to RTE. Do I take it from the manner in which the Minister replied that the work will be done before the end of 1981 or is he putting it the other way round? Can I tell those people that the Minister assures them the work will be done in 1981?
Modifications cannot commence until after a new transposer at Dingle has been brought into service. Then RTE will proceed to do the work. My information from RTE is that they do not expect to have the work finished before 1981.
Will the Dingle job be completed?
The Dingle job has to be completed and the other work follows on after that.
Will all that be completed by 1981?
No. The Dingle job will be, and the other work takes place after the Dingle job has been completed.
Can the Minister indicate what the time scale will be in relation to this work?
The best time scale I have is that it will not be completed before 1981. I will ask RTE for a more definite timetable.
Will the Minister communicate with me about this?
I will.
15.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will indicate those areas of south-west Cork in which it is accepted that (i) radio reception and (ii) television reception are unsatisfactory; and if he will outline the steps proposed to remedy this situation.
RTE say that Radio 1 medium wave reception is generally satisfactory in the region from the Tullamore transmitter but that night-time reception is somewhat impaired due to foreign station interference. They emphasise that a reasonable quality receiver is essential for optimum reception.
RTE say that because of the mountainous nature of the terrain there are many scattered small pockets in the area where television reception and VHF radio reception are less than adequate. If the Deputy has a complaint about any particular district I will have the matter investigated.
RTE have no immediate plans to improve radio reception in this area although in the long term, when additional frequencies and resources are available they would hope to provide a third VHF network thus making Radio 1 available on VHF on a full-time basis throughout the country.
RTE plan to rebuild the aerials of the Mullaghanish transmitters which would result in an improvement of television reception in south-west Cork but the areas which will benefit, or the extent to which they will benefit, cannot be stated at present.
Is the Minister aware of the great feeling of outrage in south-west Cork contrary to what the people in the north-east say about the radio reception, in particular, since Radio 1 has come off VHF?
I am aware, from complaints made by the Deputy in relation to questions by other Deputies in this House and have conveyed these to RTE. VHF frequencies becoming available in the future will be the real answer to the problem. They are not available at the moment.
Apart from the very many complaints which I have made, is the Minister aware that a petition was signed by a huge number of people in a very small part of south-west Cork which indicated about a 94 per cent complaint rate about radio reception? On that basis, is the Minister satisfied with the bland reaction of RTE in implying that the reception there is, in fact, pretty satisfactory at the moment?
They are not saying it is satisfactory. They are saying that it is less than adequate. If the Deputy wishes to pass on this petition which was signed, I shall gladly send it to RTE.
A final supplementary, Deputy, please.
Concentrating on radio rather than television, because it is important that they get radio reception first, although we shall be pressing for television as well, to be on some par with the urban areas of the country, is the Minister not aware that this petition was presented to his predecessor, and a copy sent to RTE, and that in fact the real situation is that Radio 1 when on VHF presented no problem in south-west Cork and other peripheral regions and that it is not a question of another frequency becoming available? The real problem is that the VHF frequency was taken away from Radio 1 and given to Radio 2.
I am aware that RTE took the VHF frequency away from Radio 1, but that was their decision. The real answer is in the provision of an additional VHF network. I was not aware of the petition, but I shall reactivate it with RTE.
One last question.
Deputy, I called the final supplementary. Question No. 16.
Just one last question. Would the Minister support Radio 1 being put on VHF?
Discussions along those lines are at present taking place between my Department and RTE in relation to that and many other situations concerning VHF and new networks.
Would the Minister please reply to Question No. 16?