Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

Does the Minister of State accept that other countries are adopting a different approach by having one regulator dealing with content, communications and technologies? It is an affront to people who are being forced to pay a heavy price for the economic crisis to find that the Government is insisting on pursuing the establishment of another regulator in the communications area, which will involve a costly levy on broadcasters, including RTE. Is the Minister of State aware of the terrible straits RTE is currently in due to a €68 million shortfall in advertising revenue this year? The Minister of State should ensure that this legislation will not be unpicked as soon as it is passed, which is essentially the message in his reply. We should do this correctly by pooling resources in one regulator and recognising that convergence is the future, if not the present. We should not continue on this crazy plan of having two regulators, which is costly to the industry and ineffective in terms of streamlined, joined-up Government. The Minister of State should submit that case to the Minister and the Government generally.

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