Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

The Minister mentioned in his reply that RTE will decommission some of the sites it will not need for television services in the future, after digital television has been introduced. Will it be possible to ensure the future use of such sites for other services is ascertained before any of them are sold or disposed of in any way? As the Minister is aware, people in many rural areas have encountered difficulties in getting suitable sites for masts for a range of services, including telephone services. Can the Minister assure the House that he will pursue a policy of ensuring none of these sites, which are already in our possession, is disposed of until it is absolutely certain that it cannot be used for another communications purpose? This is particularly important at a time when new spectrums are about to become available, as the Minister said, and when we are trying to upgrade rural broadband services, which are very important.

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