asked the Minister for Communications if he is aware that there are large areas of County Galway that do not have satisfactory television reception; if he is aware that RTE 1 and 2 are the only stations received in this county and if he will take the necessary steps to provide people living there with a satisfactory service and the same number of channels as the rest of the country.
Written Answers. - Television Reception.
36.
Reception of RTE television programmes is primarily a matter for RTE. RTE state that reception of their services in County Galway is in general satisfactory; they are aware, however, that the quality of reception may vary in different parts of the county because of the nature of the terrain. They say that they would be happy to investigate individual cases and advise viewers on how to optimise reception from the available signals. At present the only legitimate method of providing non-RTE television services, where such services are not directly available off-air, is by relay via a cable system. Cablelink (Galway) Ltd. currently provide cable television service in Galway city.
My Department is currently finalising the technical and regulatory details of a retransmission system known as multipoint microwave distribution systems (MMDS) which in due course will afford the opportunity of extending choice of viewing to areas of the country which are unlikely to have access to cable systems.