Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

The former Minister is the former Minister. There has been no further written correspondence under the new Minister representing the Department. We have, obviously, discussed it at Cabinet and before Cabinet meetings and will do so again, but I have had no further written correspondence on the issue from the current Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport.

The appointment of external consultants to advise on the matter is an appropriate part of the process. We hope to issue an e-tender document by the end of this week to appoint a consultant who will take regard of the submissions that are made. Sometimes these are complex issues on which we would like outside advice. I hope to have the consultant appointed quickly and to move quickly towards the end of the consultation process and produce a report and presentation which I will bring to Government and Europe.

The UK Government is involved in a similar process to us and is considering bringing cricket back from being a pay-per-view sport to being a free-to-air broadcast. It also proposes to do the same with the Six Nations tournament within Wales. It is engaged in a process and has consultants examining the situation. It is useful to have this comparison. The David Davies report, to which the Deputy referred, provides interesting background material in terms of the implications for broadcasters and sports. The French Government includes the Heineken Cup in its free-to-air broadcasts when the French team is playing in the final and it includes Six Nations rugby. Therefore, what we are doing fits in with a common pattern across other European countries.

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