Vol. 501 No. 6
63 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the position in relation to the setting up of Digico to enable Ireland to deal with the digital broadcasting revolution; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7240/99]
As I have stated in replies to previous questions on this matter, a Bill is being drafted that will provide for a statutory regime to facilitate the early introduction in Ireland of digital broadcasting services, in particular digital terrestrial television. The draft text of the Bill is at a very advanced stage of preparation. I had hoped to be in a position to have the text of the Bill published before the end of March. However the matters to be addressed in the legislation are complex and, accordingly, finalising the details of the draft Bill with the Attorney General's office is a difficult and time consuming process. At this stage I believe that an April publication date is more likely.
An inter-departmental project management group, chaired by my Department, was established to oversee the selection of a partner for RTE to form the commercial entity which will be responsible for the provision of terrestrial transmission and technical facilities to existing broadcasters and to broadcasters in the new digital era. I recently announced that a consortium headed by AIB Corporate Finance has been selected by public competition to act as advisers to my Department on the establishment of the entity. The consultants have already begun their task. I understand RTE is proceeding with the identification of the assets and other contractual relationships it considers would be appropriate to transfer to the new entity. I hope the new entity will be established and that negotiations with a suitable prospective partner or partners will be concluded within a six to eight month period.
I hope DTT services will be available in the middle or latter half of next year.
Will the Minister list the main areas on which advice is required from the Attorney General? Given that the Minister expects digital terrestrial transmission to be operational next year, what impact, if any, will the proposed structure have on the Bill due to be published this evening regarding the setting up of all Ireland structures, one of which deals with broadcasting?
It is not customary to deal with the contents of a Bill until it is published. The outline of the Bill has been discussed on numerous occasions and I do not propose to go into detail now. Suffice to say that in a complex Bill legal issues have to be addressed carefully. It is important when legislation comes before the House that it is as accurate as possible. That saves the time of the House by not requiring the tabling of further amendments on issues that could be cleared initially, particularly those of a legal content. Although there is a slight slippage in the time envisaged for publication of the Bill, it is only a matter of a few weeks.
Can the people expect digital terrestrial services to be available towards the end of 2000?
Yes. I have said on a number of occasions that I hope digital terrestrial services will be available in the middle or latter half of next year. I apologise to the Deputy for neglecting to reply to the second part of his question concerning digitalisation and its impact on the whole island. Negotiations have been taking place with UTV for some time on the question of transmission. When Dr. Mo Mowlam visited my Department some months ago I had the opportunity to press that issue forward in respect of analog and digital. I have no doubt there will be further opportunities for co-ordination and co-operation.
