Vol. 509 No. 6
493 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the reason a television broadcast licence was issued to RTE when full coverage of this channel is not available in many parts of County Mayo and therefore it only provides a service to selected parts of the country. [21394/99]
The issue raised by the Deputy is the day-to-day responsibility of the RTE Authority and I have no statutory function in the matter.
However, in accordance with long-standing custom, I am prepared to furnish to the House information supplied by RTE in response to questions relating specifically to improvements in reception of RTE's national broadcasting services. RTE state that in excess of 98 per cent of the population nationwide receive good quality RTE television reception. RTE further states that good quality RTE television reception is available generally in County Mayo except in some small pockets, especially Pollatomish, Carrowteige and Porturlin, north of Belmullet. RTE reports that it has encountered difficulties with efforts, over the last three to four years, to provide good quality reception to this area.
