Frances Fitzgerald
Question:84 Ms. F. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht his views on the establishment of a North/South TV Station in conjunction with the relevant authorities in Northern Ireland.
Written Answers - North/South TV Service.
I have no plans at present for the establishment of such a service. I would prefer to see in the short term greater equality of editorial choice for television viewers in the whole island of Ireland with existing services.
The policy of successive Irish Governments has been to encourage plurality of television choice and Northern Ireland television services are available to ever increasing numbers of viewers here through natural overspill, cable and MMDS retransmission systems. Unfortunately, reception of RTE television services in Northern Ireland is less than satifactory, being available to about 40 per cent of the population. Any improvement in this situation involves the successful negotiation of bi-lateral and multi-lateral agreements on the use of broadcasting frequency spectrum within the constraints of International Agreements to which Ireland and the UK are parties. Such negotiations are primarily a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, but I would hope that in due course it will be possible to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement that will result in the greater availability of RTE television services in Northern Ireland. In this regard I would hope also that it may be possible for Telefís na Gaeilge to be an all Ireland television service.