Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I am not asking the Minister to step into the middle of the negotiations. Will he accept that RTE has already spent some €70 million putting DTT infrastructure in place, on the basis of having a commercial operator in place which would help to finance that infrastructure? Would he also accept that he changed the broadcasting legislation, through an amendment, to change the deadline which was set for the provision of DTT services, the deadline for which was the end of last year because of the ongoing problems resulting from Boxer pulling out?

This time last year Boxer pulled out and we now potentially have a crisis on our hands, should it turn out that RTE and OneVision cannot do the necessary deal. If that should happen we are starting all over again. The Minister has responsibility to ensure that we are on course and that there is a clear road map in place to deliver analogue switch off by the end of 2012. Yet, all the Minister is willing to say at the moment is that at the end of 2012 analogue switch off will happen. Is he now saying that he will put no deadline in place for the conclusion of negotiations between RTE and OneVision?

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