Vol. 537 No. 2
42 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the number of sections of the Broadcasting Act, 2001 which have been brought into effect; when it is proposed to implement the remaining sections; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15721/01]
Section 1 (4) of the Broadcasting Act, 2001, provides that the Minister must sign a commencement order before the Act comes into effect. The commencement order may refer to specified provisions or be general in nature but must specify a day or days on which the Act or the specified provisions come into operation.
I intend to make an order bringing the whole Act into effect shortly. However the Deputy will appreciate that it is necessary to address certain practical arrangements before this can be done. In this context I met with the Independent Radio and Television Commission on 26 March 2001 to discuss many of the issues arising from the enactment of the legislation. In addition, my Department has been in consultation with the Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC) with regard to the financial and staffing resources which it estimates it will require when it assumes the responsibilities of the new Broadcasting Commission of Ireland to fulfil its statutory remit. The Independent Radio and Television Commission has made a submission seeking additional resources and my Department is currently examining the submission with a view to securing the necessary sanction for the additional resources needed to carry out its new functions.
In preparation for the commencement of the Act, the Government has recently appointed four additional members to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC). Members of the BCC who are serving at the time of the commencement order will continue to serve as members following commencement. The appointment of four new members is in line with the requirement in section 22(6) of the Act that, with a nine member Commission, a minimum of four members must be women and a minimum of four members must be men.
The Broadcasting Act, 2001, also provides me with enabling powers to establish Teilifís na Gaeilge as a separate statutory entity. However, as I have said previously in this House, there are many complex issues to be addressed and I do not believe it would be appropriate to establish the station as a separate statutory entity until such issues are resolved satisfactorily. I expect that the process of establishing Teilifís na Gaeilge, otherwise known as TG4, as an independent concern will take a number of years.
I thank the Minister for her reply. Will she inform the House of the up-to-date position regarding the setting up of the transmission company and the setting up of the multiplex company and what date has she in mind in terms of the provision of a digital terrestrial service here? As the Minister knows, there is a developing market and other platforms are more advanced in terms of providing a service than her Department is in terms of putting into effect the various elements of this Act, particularly in relation to the transmission company and the multiplex company.
That question refers more to Question No. 43 on the Order Paper than it does to this specific question. With regard to the commencement of the Act the question of DTT does apply. The provisions relating to the establishment of the DTT platform relate to sections 5, 9, 13 and 15 of the Act. With regard to the setting up of digital television a great deal of work had to be done and that work is continuing. The Deputy will have seen advertisements in the daily newspapers from 17 May and in the Sunday papers from 20 May with regard to DTT in Ireland and the question of the selection process. The Deputy will know there are two approaches to this. The first is the separation and sale by RTE of the existing transmission network and the second is the selection of the DTT multiplex company to which I have just referred. We will have an opportunity later on Question No. 43 to further discuss this. At this juncture, all the procedures are taking place to ensure that the Act will be commenced as soon as possible. The question of the selection process has been going ahead and RTE has also been working on the issue of the transmission process. We hope DTT will be in operation in the first half of next year.
I fail to see from where the Minister derives the confidence that a service will be available in the early part of next year. From what I can see progress is very slow and I put it to her that there is a need for far more urgency particularly in terms of setting up the transmission company from which the other elements flow. Is there a stand-off or standstill because the licence fee increase issue has not been resolved and does this prevent matters from moving forward at a reasonable pace?
The whole question of the licence fee has nothing to do with the proposals in this Bill concerning the multiplex company or the existing transmission network. We have already outlined the position in advertisements in the newspapers over the period 17 to 20 May. As I have said, the position regarding the DTT multiplex operator selection process was outlined in newspaper advertisements between 17 and 20 May. From 8 June, it is expected that the information memorandum, the invitation to apply, will be available to interested parties who comply with conditions set out in advertisements. The closing date for receipt of proposals is 3 August and it expected that the selection process will have concluded by October. The selection criteria to be applied will be made available to those who have applied for an information memorandum. The Deputy is aware that parties who wish to receive a copy of the information memorandum will have to pay £5,000 to the Department. Upon receipt of that money, the information necessary to complete the next step of the process will be given.
43 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the arrangements that are being made for the sale of shares in the company which hold the radio and television transmission network and the awarding of a national monopoly franchise for DTT multiplexing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16006/01]
I assume the Deputy is referring to the revised arrangements agreed by Government last year as provided for in the Broadcasting Act, 2001, for the introduction of digital terrestrial television – DTT – in Ireland. The revised arrangements provide that the DTT platform will be established by two separate but interlinked transactions: the separation out and sale by RTE of the existing RTE transmission network as a going concern, subject to RTE being able to retain a shareholding of up to 28% in the new entity, and the selection of the DTT multiplex company – the DTT retail business – to be licensed by the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation.
An interdepartmental project management group chaired by my Department and including the Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Finance and Public Enterprise is managing the process to select the DTT multiplex company. A consortium of advisers headed by AIB corporate finance is executing that process under the direction of the project management group. The public phase of the selection process commenced in the week ending 18 May when advertisements were placed in national and international newspapers inviting interested parties to participate in the process to be selected as the DTT multiplex company.
I understand from RTE that the public phase of its transmission network sale process has also begun and that RTE's advisers commenced the distribution of its pre-sale document to interested parties on 11 May.
Will the Minister indicate if this unique asset is to be sold or awarded following an outright auction to the highest bidder or following some other qualitative assessment of bids? If it goes to the highest bidder, what are her Department's expectations of how much will be received for the transmission system? How much money is expected to be offered for the system and the national terrestrial digital multiplex franchise? What steps have been taken and conditions imposed by the Minister upon both transactions to protect consumer interests?
The Deputy asked whether this will be decided by a beauty parade or an auction to the highest bidder; some countries have taken the first option but I think the best option is a mixture of the two. These issues were brought by me to Government and a strong stance has been taken regarding selection criteria. It is important to say that all parties who wish to receive a copy of the information memorandum must pay a non-refundable fee. The payment can be regarded as a fee to participate in the process and its purpose is to discourage those who are not serious potential bidders.
Those who are serious will be given the opportunity to receive information on the selection criteria, including details of the weightings which have been approved by Government and which will be included in the information memorandum. This approach strengthens the fairness and transparency of the process as it ensures all interested parties can access selection criteria at the same time. It is inappropriate to discuss selection criteria at this stage as it is important that information be given at the same time to all those who comply with the criteria outlined in newspaper advertisements.
RTE is responsible for the process of planning and managing the sale of its transmission network. The Government has mandated me to oversee the process and to ensure that the achievement of Government objectives for the introduction of DTT is not inhibited. From the beginning, I have stressed the importance of ensuring the process auditor is given all documentation and supplied with all necessary information on an ongoing basis. The process auditor will have to be satisfied that both processes are fair and transparent as they develop.
Will the Minister set out in detail the mechanism that will be employed in each case to guarantee that the privatisation of a State asset will be carried out in an open, fair and transparent manner? Will she explain why this responsibility has not been handed to the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation which seems to be the appropriate competent regulator to oversee the sale and award?
The Deputy will know from discussions in the House over a considerable period that a management and advisory group has been involved in this. The group includes representatives of a number of Departments. I wanted to ensure transparency and fairness are elements of the process, so I appointed Mr. Frank Murray, who has had a distinguished career in the highest ranks of the Civil Service, to act as process auditor in the establishment of both of these processes.
The report of the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation into the licensing of DTT has indicated that the DTT transmission licence will require a roll-out of the transmission network, equating to coverage at launch of approximately 65% of the population and coverage of approximately 95% of the population over five years. Technical information is dealt with by the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation. The supplementary question asked by Deputy McGinley mirrors his approach, which is culturally different to my own as I believe this is a matter for the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands and not a purely technical one to be dealt with by the Department of Public Enterprise or the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation.
