Vol. 476 No. 7
411 Mr. Dempsey asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if his attention has been drawn to the increasing complaints about poor television reception in the Navan area, County Meath; and if he will, as a matter of policy, instruct the appropriate authorities to rectify the situation. [8100/97]
I am aware of this problem in the Navan area but understand that it is confined to the direct off air reception of UK television services. As the Deputy will know such channels are available in this country only because of the fortuitous overspill of signals from UK television transmitters. As new Irish national programme services are rolled out, and existing ones developed, we may need to use the frequencies on which these services are carried for national purposes. The result will be that the scope available to protect the availability of the UK signals will, unfortunately, diminish.
In this particular case, however, I understand that the source of the interference is not from another television service. The problem has been identified and my Department, in co-operation with RTE, is taking steps to rectify the matter.
