Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

Deputies asked how soon DTT will be available once this Bill is passed. Once the Bill is passed RTE is immediately mandated to broadcast public service channels in DTT. There are currently no proposals with regard to ending free-to-air Irish broadcasts. I have indicated clearly to Deputy Broughan who has asked me the question six times but he has not heard the answer. I informed him it will not be any later than 2012 and will probably be a good bit earlier than that. The trial will take two years and it will finish in August 2008. The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, BCI, is required to initiate a competition to allocate the multiplexes within six months of enactment of this legislation.

I acknowledge that Deputies on all sides have indicated they will facilitate the passage of the Bill as quickly as possible and I thank them. Within six months of the date of its enactment into law, the competition for the multiplexes will be in place and this will enable us to move ahead very rapidly. The trial also allows for commercial operators to assess the market case for full DTT roll-out which is essential to ensure the success of DTT in the future. We are trying to move this forward as efficiently and as fast as possible.

Deputy Durkan asked about the technical details and he questioned whether we are legislating now for something that will be out of date and whether there is a danger it will not be able to deal with changes in broadcasting and technology. The Deputy is correct that broadcasting and telecommunications are changing rapidly. The Bill does not specify any type of technology because that is the responsibility of the people in RTE and other places who are the experts. They decide on the most suitable equipment. The trials will help to inform them but there are no specific technological standards cited, be that in the radio area of DRM or DAB. The Bill will not specify any particular technology standards; we will leave it as open as possible.

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