asked the Minister for Communications if his Department has investigated the cause of widespread interference with television reception in the south and west Dublin suburbs; the reason for this interference; the action which is being taken to stop it; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna-Questions. Oral Answers. - Television Reception Interference.
2.
RTE have statutory responsibility for investigation of interference to television reception. RTE report that they are not aware of widespread interference to reception of their programmes in the areas referred to by the Deputy. I have no function in the protection of reception of broadcasts from stations other than RTE.
RTE will investigate any cases of problems with reception of their programmes on receipt of names and addresses.
I can assure the Minister that there is a serious problem in the areas I mentioned in my question. As the Minister has said, RTE are the investigatory authority. When RTE attend to these complaints the problem can go away possibly for a short time but it seems to come back again. Would it be possible for officials of the Minister's Department together with officials from RTE to address this problem in a way which would root out the undoubted interference which occurs in the areas I mentioned in the question?
Without mentioning names, I think I am aware of the problem, which the Deputy has raised previously. It was investigated by RTE and I can assure him that I will get RTE to look at this problem again for him and that I will use all the resources available to me to ensure that the reception is not interfered with.
Is the Minister in a position to say how much of the interference is caused by illegal broadcasting services or is a considerable amount of this interference caused by mobile telecommunications systems such as radio telephones? Are licensed services interfering with reception or is the interference mainly caused by illegal broadcasting services?
First of all, there is no interference with RTE — they have statutory responsibility to investigate complaints — what we are talking about here is interference with other channels. It is a very weak signal in a poor reception area. The particular licensed operator for mobile phone systems in the area involved has done everything possible to ensure that even his signals will not interfere in any way with the incoming extraterrestrial signal.