I thank you most sincerely, Sir, for allowing me an opportunity to raise this very important matter with the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Deputy Cowen. I would ask the Minister to reinstate South Coast Community Television to the County Cork coastal region where thousands of viewers have been denied the facility of a multi-channel TV service. Other areas of the country — for example, Galway, home of the former Minister for Communications and now home of the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht — are enjoying a privilege which has been denied to the viewers in south-west County Cork. It is of paramount importance that community groups throughout the country be granted a licence by the Minister. No company should have a monopoly such as that enjoyed by the company using the MMDS system, who charge a rental of £140 per year. South Coast Community Television charge a rental of between £20 and £30 per year for their services. How can any Minister be so uncharitable as to give such a monopoly to any one group, thus preventing the weakest section of the community — the old, the infirm and the unemployed — from enjoying the same facility as their counterparts on the east coast. How can the Minister allow open competition all along the east coast, while the people in the west and south-west are denied this facility?
The MMDS system is not used in any other European country. It is only in use in Canada and North Africa. Furthermore, MMDS is a microwave system that will prove very unsuitable for valleys and low-lying areas, common terrain in the south-west and the entire west of Ireland. The Fianna Fáil and Labour Parties gave a commitment prior to the election to review national community television services. Why are these two parties now reneging on these promises? I call on the Minister to allow South Coast Community Television to operate, thus restoring equal rights to south-west Cork and the west of Ireland. I would ask the Minister to let common sense prevail.