Mr. Michael Keogh:

A couple of hundred houses fall into the category that they are not able to receive a satellite signal and or a signal from Saorview. I cannot tie down the exact figure without visiting every house. As the Saorsat satellite is at a higher orbit than that of Sky, it will get a signal to places the Sky satellite signal cannot reach.

When we set out to consider this new network, the first objective was to meet the obligation under the legislation to replicate analogue coverage. Analogue services reach about 98% of the population. We sought to replicate this through Saorview. It is a bugbear that a percentage of people have never been able to receive free-to-air television services. We also put in an effort to see if we could develop a solution to that problem. The solution we came up with was Saorsat, a new satellite launched just about two years ago. Between the two services, virtually every home in the country has access at the chimney or rooftop to the Irish public service channels, free to air.

An issue arises in counties Kerry, Donegal and Wicklow, which have a similar topography. The Saorsat solution will be more beneficial to them than it will be in County Kildare, which is more or less flat. It can reach places that line-of-sight analogue or terrestrial technology cannot.

We must also consider the spectrum available. When the original sites were built back in the early 1960s, we were able to do whatever we wanted to do with the available spectrum. There was no one else using it. Now we have wireless phones in the house and mobile broadband services, as well as mobile phones. As a result, the spectrum available for broadcasting has shrunk. We are not using the VHF spectrum, which was good in mountainous areas. In addition, approximately 20% of the UHF spectrum is being given over to meet the digital dividend in order that it can used for the mobile phone services. We are very much constrained in what we can do. The digital network must be different from the original analogue network. Given this, we believe we have free-to-air television reception in virtually house in the country.

There is an international satellite with spot beams covering the whole of Europe. We were lucky enough that one of the beams was pointing at Ireland. It was not the case that somebody launched a satellite for Ireland. None of our television services can be freely available in the United Kingdom. If we turn up the power too high, people living in Liverpool and Manchester will receive Irish services. However, Irish broadcasters do not have the right to transmit to them. They must be turned off or they must be encrypted. We have to keep within a power window which means that Irish people can receive the services but population centres in the UK cannot. We are fortunate enough that every home in the country can receive them with a dish one metre in size. The beam happens to be pointed at somewhere in north Tipperary. It is operated by Eutalsat, one of the biggest satellite companies in the world, and we are buying capacity from it. It works quite well with us to try to find a solution for Ireland.

The signal strength in County Kerry is similar to that in County Donegal because they are located on the outer edges of the beam. The satellite has been operational for virtually 18 months. It was formally announced that it was operational by the Minister in March this year. It running for the best part of 18 months. We have been through a number of humps and hollows. Members will be happy to learn that TV3 is available on Saorview in Castletownbere and we have measured the signal and it works.

In the extremities one needs a 1 m dish; however, in the middle of the beam a 60 cm dish is sufficient. Installing a 1 m dish seems to be an issue for some installers, but we have provided training and will provide more. As there seems to be a particular issue for some installers in south Kerry, we are providing extra training for them next week. There were similar issues when Sky services first became available when an 80 cm solid dish was required. There were similar statements then to what we are hearing now 20 years later. It is a slightly different technology and needs to be a little more accurate in pointing it. One cannot use a €10 B&Q beeper; one needs to have a 1 m dish in order that it can be pointed more accurately. We also have the issue that it moves when the wind blows. Anyone who cannot have a 1 m dish that will not move in the wind should consider changing. We have heard accusations that the 1 m dish will blow away the gable end of a house. In the case of a 1 m dish in high winds in County Kerry, it is the equivalent of me pushing against the wall or four or five guys learning up against it. If anybody is living in a house which has a wall that might be pulled down by a satellite dish, they need to move out for health and safety reasons.

We have made a significant effort to educate public representatives. We know that there are vulnerable people, as well as old people. We are also aware that there are dodgy dealers and, unfortunately, installers are not regulated. We have made a great effort to ensure that when public representatives speak, they give accurate information. As I said, there will be houses sheltered under the north face of a mountain which we will have to deal with individually. We cannot say a satellite dish will pull down the gable end of a house. We cannot say it will cost €450 more in County Kerry than it will in County Cork. It will cost €100 more to install a Saorsat solution than Saorview. We have done our best to get the price down as far as we can, but it is a different technology. There are people looking at these small transposer sites. They were receiving RTE 1, RTE 2 and TG4. If they move to Saorsat, for an extra €35, they will have 200 channels, as they will be able to pick up all of the European free-to-air satellite channels.

There is a small cost overrun for the person who only wants RTE 1 and RTE 2. In County Kerry, for example, TV3 would have been available as an analogue service to approximately 44% of the population. It will now be available through Saorview to 95% of the population of the county. If TV3 decides to go onto Saorsat - as a commercial operator, it can make that decision for itself - the rest of the population of the county will be covered. There has been a huge improvement in the area covered by TV3 and, to a lesser extent, TG4, in counties such as Kerry and Donegal. The rate of RTE 1 coverage in County Kerry was 90% under the analogue service, but that figure will increase to 95% under the Saorview service.

There has been a big improvement, although some homes are still inconvenienced. I am aware of the problems in the Nire valley, particularly in four or five houses nestled in the Forest View area where the bottom of the Nire road approaches the main junction. When I drove up the road, I noted that three of the houses in question have Sky satellite dishes. If they can get Sky, they can get Saorsat more easily. There is a solution there for them. We have to do a bit of work in these individual areas to educate the local installers. We seem to have done a good job in County Donegal, which would have roughly the same types of coverage figures as County Kerry. We seem to have failed to educate some of the installers in County Kerry about what Saorsat is and how it works. There are 20 or 30 houses in places like Headford, Bunane and Lauragh that can get RTE 1 and RTE 2 as an analogue service and will now have to go to Saorsat. We need to work with the local installers to facilitate that. We have some extra training lined up for them next week.