Vol. 470 No. 1
303 Miss Coughlan asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he has decided to introduce new legislation in order to allow community television and deflector systems to be legalised; the proposals, if any, he has to satisfy the concerns from a financial and health perspective, of those who object to MMDS; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18537/96]
I have made no decision as to any legislation of the type referred to by the Deputy. Arising from the High Court judgement in the Carrigaline case, I have appointed independent technical consultants, nominated by the European Broadcasting Union, to assist me with the assessment of the application in that case and I expect that they will be in a position to report to me in the matter by the end of November next. While the High Court judgment related only to an application from South Coast Community Television, I will, of course, have regard to the implications for other deflector systems which may arise from that assessment. I assume the Deputy's reference to financial concerns is to charges for the service. I think it is important to note that anyone providing a quality multi-channel service will be faced with certain costs and that these will be reflected in the charge for the service. For those who have concerns about health aspects, I will reiterate what I said previously in this matter. MMDS licences specify that the system must work within the guidelines laid down by the International Radiation Protection Agency — IRPA — which is the expert body in the field. Studies carried out in this country show that exposure levels from MMDS transmitters were many thousands of times lower than the IRPA limits.
