asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the steps being taken to improve the reception of RTE I and II in the Dunlewy area, County Donegal.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Donegal RTE Reception.
4.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs the steps being taken to make RTE available to Welshtown and the surrounding areas in Ballybofey, County Donegal.
I propose, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle to take Questions Nos. 4 and 5 together.
RTE are aware that reception in the areas in question is less than satisfactory, but their priority in the Donegal area is to replace the present obsolete 405-line monochrome single channel service from the Fanad, Moville and Letterkenny transposers with a two channel 625-line colour service. When this work is completed, RTE say that it will then be possible for them to consider areas such as Welshtown and Dunlewy.
I gather the Minister accepts that the reception in this area is poor. In the event of people from this area not paying their licence fee, will he be as lenient as possible on them?
The Deputy received information and positive answers from me in the past few days and his persuasive voice is echoing across the floor again. The law is that anyone who has a receiver must pay for a licence. There is no obligation on the Department to provide a service. If a person has a TV receiver he must pay for a licence. Even Deputy Haughey will have to do that.
If a receiver is not receiving, is it then a receiver?
Yes.
Will the Minister tell the House when the transposer in the Moville area will be coming into operation in order to allow people in the Inishowen and the Fanad regions to receive RTE 1 and RTE 2 in colour?
I have not that information but I will have it circulated or I will send it to the Deputy personally.
Is the Minister aware that there was a decision to have that transposer installed before Christmas 1981? What has happened to that proposal?
Many decisions were made by the previous administration. The only thing they did not do was provide the money. They left us without money.
Will the Minister acknowledge that the greatest investment in telecommunications was made in the past two years? He should stop this nonsense of throwing about remarks that the Department of Posts and Telegraphs are short of money. That is complete nonsense. We did more in the two years than had been done in the past ten years.
Fianna Fáil should have bought some vans for the drivers in Sheriff Street——
That occurred when this Government were in office.
(Interruptions.)
Is the Minister not aware that a Bill was introduced to enable the Department of Posts and Telegraphs to transfer money to the capital programme and that because of the antiquated system of accountability in that Department it could not have been done heretofore? Had the Minister and the Minister of State used what we had given they would not have needed the £23 million in the Estimate. The budget for the third greatest spending Department was quite correct if the Government did what they should have done.
I am calling Question No. 6.