Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

The key timeline derives from the switch-off of the analogue system by the end of 2012. This is the one certain deadline with which everything has to work back. That deadline is not there just because of EU directives but because of the economic imperative that comes from the digital dividend from using the spectrum elsewhere.

It will be a tight timeline. The BCI selected a winning bidder last year and one would have expected the system to be up and running at this stage. However, this has not occurred and it will require RTE and the BCI to enter into separate contract negotiations with Onevision, the second consortium on the list. While the economic conditions are difficult, I have pointed out on Question Time and elsewhere that the economic case is strong for such an investment in DTT, particularly for some of the companies involved in that consortium. I am not as sceptical as Deputy Coveney that these contractual arrangements will not be agreed. While I am not involved directly, I am confident suitable arrangements will be made and we can proceed with the switch-on of digital services with a combination of free-to-air services and a commercial mix of channels.

One reason for the change in the deadline is that we cannot be exactly certain of the date for this switch-over. It is not very bright to tie ourselves legislatively to a particular date. As stated earlier, we should not tie ourselves to certain technologies in the legislation because they change. Similarly, I do not want to be tied down legislatively to the switch-over. There is still a mechanism in the legislation to mandate RTE to ensure the switch-over from analogue to digital in 2012. While it is a tight timeline, I am confident we will achieve this transfer.

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