Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 30 Jun 1994

Vol. 444 No. 7

Adjournment Debate. - West Waterford Television Reception.

Mr. Deasy

I have raised this matter with the Minister for Transport Energy and Communications, Deputy Cowen, on a number of occasions over the past seven or eight months. There has been a certain improvement in the quality of reception of the two Irish television channels in West Waterford but, unfortunately, it is still not what it should be.

The history of the problem goes back to the replacement of the cable television system in the towns of Cappoquin, Lismore and Tallow by the MMDS system. We were led to believe that the MMDS system would be the answer to all our problems where television reception on a multi-channel basis was concerned. While it has provided good quality pictures for British channels, it has resulted in a serious deterioration in the quality of reception of the two Irish channels.

As a result of representations by members of Waterford County Council and by me in the Dáil, RTE has investigated the problem and brought about a certain improvement in the reception. It is still inferior, however, to that which was available prior to the introduction of the MMDS system. That particular system is operated by Cork Communications Limited who have been particularly negligent in not keeping the people informed and not responding to their complaints. There is a need for Cork Communications Limited to be wrapped on the knuckles by the Minister, Deputy Cowen, because of their ineptitude and this attitude. That is why I am required to raise this matter in the House repeatedly.

I ask the Minister to ensure that those of us who have supported the legally provided system — the MMDS system — rather than the illegal deflector systems are supported by the Minister. Unfortunately, that has not been the case to date. Those of us who have to suffer the taunts and harassment of the supporters of illegal deflector systems are entitled to protection and support. That has not been forthcoming.

I have every confidence in the Minister. I know he has endeavoured to do his best but it is simply not sufficient. Once again I am asking him to ensure that the quality of reception of RTE 1 and Network 2 is brought up to the standard which was previously available and to ensure that people who have the franchise to provide the MMDS system do so in areas where it has not yet been installed. I hope the Minister will live up to the commitments that he has given in this House but which, to date, have not been fulfilled.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications (Mr. N. Treacy)

Tá an-áthas orm an seans seo a bheith agam an freagra a thabhairt don cheist áitiúil seo faoi theilifís RTE i gContae Phort Láirge.

I would point out once again in this House, as has been previously stated here, that investigation of problems with the reception of RTE 1 and Network 2 is a matter for RTE in the first instance. RTE has the technical expertise and the local resources to investigate such complaints effectively. If, following those initial investigations, there is evidence of interference from another frequency spectrum user, RTE will inform our Department, which then takes responsibility for the matter and liaises directly with RTE. Where interference is brought to the attention of our Department, it will initiate such liaison directly. In general, where there is an issue relating to RTE reception which involves the local cable or MMDS operator, both parties work together to sort out such problems, and they keep the technical staff of our Department informed of progress.

The towns of Cappoquin, Tallow and Lismore receive multi-channel television via a cable system which is owned by Cork Communications Limited, the local cable franchisee. Last Christmas, Cork Communications Limited made some changes to the systems in the towns of Lismore and Tallow in order to increase the number of TV channels available to their subscribers.

I understand that difficulties with the frequency settings for the new channels resulted in interference to the reception of RTE 1 and Network 2. Following investigation of the matter, some adjustments to the frequencies involved were made and this solved the problem.

Last week, Cork Communications Limited requested RTE engineers to examine the quality of RTE reception in the areas of Cappoquin, Lismore and Tallow. The company wished to ensure that RTE reception was not affected in any way by the operation of the local cable systems. As the issue involved more than one user of the frequency spectrum, our Department was informed. RTE engineers have been working in the area during the past week. They investigated the quality of the reception and found there was no question of interruption of service as such. They felt, however, that reception quality was not satisfactory and that it would benefit from some adjustments to the local cable system. I understand that they made these recommendations to the cable company, which is currently carrying them out.

I understand that these adjustments are expected to bring the quality of the reception up to the standards which will satisfy RTE, and that liaison between RTE and Cork Communications Limited will be ongoing. Our Department will be kept informed of developments.

I also believe that there may be other reception problems in the area relating purely to the quality of the RTE signal, involving RTE Radio 2, and these are being addressed directly by RTE.

I take full cognisance of the sincerity of the representations made consistently by Deputy Deasy in this case. I will refer them again to the communications division of our Department.