Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome the Minister and the officials and thank them for their presentation. There is a particular problem or difficulty in County Kerry. There are pockets of the county, particularly in the south, south east and west, where the existing transmitters were put in place with the co-operation of RTE to provide coverage to black-spot areas where historically there was huge difficulty in getting a signal. The introduction of Saorview will not address the problems with coverage in these areas. It appears that the transmitters will be decommissioned on 24 October but thousands of people are living in isolated remote areas, valleys and so forth.

Given the mountainous terrain, these people will be left with blank screens. Many of them are elderly and live alone. They already have problems with isolation and with few people living in the neighbourhood. It will pose terrible difficulties for many communities.

Saorview appears to be the solution and Saorsat the alternative. In many respects, it is not workable because of the sheer size and physical shape of the masts. They will be prone to obstruction and being blown down during windy conditions, which are frequent in the south west as winds come in from the Atlantic and there is very little protection. It will also be a cost for many of these people who are living on low incomes and who may not have the budgets to meet the cost, which is €300 for installation of Saorsat.

There is a very simple solution, which is to retrofit and upgrade these particular transmitters and this work has been undertaken in other areas. Recently, we were informed that four have been upgraded in County Cork in areas similar to those in County Kerry. Will something be done immediately to address this problem and get these people out of the dilemma they face because they are genuinely frightened and very concerned that they may be left in the dark within a month?