Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy has raised many questions and issues that are not of direct relevance to the question he tabled and not of direct relevance to my role as Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. As he has pointed out this issue may possibly be one for the Competition Authority. As the Deputy knows the Competition Authority is independent and has undertaken many investigations into matters of competition in a variety of areas without any prompt or direction from the Minister, which is as it should be.

Any competition concerns raised are unlikely to focus on the competition between broadcasters and rather on the impact on consumers who purchase pay television packages. It is difficult to see how platform ownership issues could impact negatively on broadcasters, which is the area for which I have responsibility. There may be an exception in one area. If the owners of a platform were to act in a discriminatory manner by refusing to carry certain companies' broadcasts, those broadcasters could seek a remedy through competition law. However, that is a matter for the Competition Authority.

When Cablelink, which became NTL, was in State ownership it had a record of non-investment before being sold. Having such an entity in public ownership or ownership other than private ownership does not automatically ensure that investment will take place or that it will benefit the consumer.

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