Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 9 Jul 1991

Vol. 410 No. 6

Written Answers. - Wexford Cable TV Service.

Brendan Howlin

Question:

173 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications whether his Department sanctioned an increase from £58 to £82.60 yearly for the provision of cable television service in New Ross, County Wexford by a company (details supplied) in Dublin 1; if he will outline the basis on which an increase of 44 per cent was considered to be warranted; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications (Mr. S. Brennan)

An increase in cable television rental charges for the New Ross cable system from £60.71 to £73.26 — a 20.67 per cent increase — was approved by me with effect from 1 March 1991. This increase took into account the rate of inflation since the last price increase in 1986 i.e. 16.4 per cent, and the fact that the company are in the process of making a substantial capital investment to upgrade the system.

In addition, a copyright charge of £9.36 was approved by me in April in order to allow the cable company to recoup the costs of an agreement on charges between the cable operator and the holders of copyright in the programmes relayed. Rights holders in the programmes relayed by companies have been seeking copyright payments from cable companies for a number of years. Court action was initiated but the rights holders and the cable operators settled out of court.

The cost of the copyright payments had not been taken into account by my Department when authorising price levels for cable before as, until the conclusion of the agreements, with one exception, no copyright payments have been made. Cable companies were not in a position to absorb the extra costs of the copyright agreement without an increase in charges. In order to allow cable companies to continue to provide their existing services, there was no alternative but to authorise the companies to increase their charges.

The increases approved are based on the share of the amount required by the rights holders from the cable industry in Ireland and are designed so that no benefit accrues to the cable companies as a result of the increases.