Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)

We gave that serious consideration and while a good case might be made for joining the two together, weighing up the pros and cons, it was decided that at this stage we would not amalgamate the two, but have two separate regulators. The forum on broadcasting, which was set up in 2002 and is the genesis for the current Broadcasting Bill, recommended what we are doing. It also recommended certain co-operation and liaison between both groups. One can argue a good case for amalgamation, but taking everything into consideration we are making the right decision. Two separate sets of knowledge are required. In essence, the commissioner for communications regulation is a network regulator, while the RTE authority, the BCI and BCC are content regulators. In a single organisation there is always a danger that broadcasting regulation might not receive the level of attention it is due in comparison to the sheer size of the telecommunications sector. The turnover of the latter sector is a multiple of the broadcasting sector's.

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