Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I sincerely hope the switchover will go as well as Deputy Cowen anticipates, because Irish people have a habit of leaving it until the last minute. Whereas it is fair to say that no one could be unaware that the switchover is taking place, it is worrying that there is still some way to go. I am reluctant to predict a 100% smooth transfer on 24 October. I take this opportunity to say to people that if they do not make the switch by 24 October, they will have no television on 25 October. There are people in various parts of the country with whom I have spoken who are under the impression that they cannot make the switch until 24 October. That is not the case. People should do it before there is a last-minute rush; otherwise, they will have nothing on their screens. RTE has put a good deal of investment into building up this system and it has addressed black spots in the country. These areas are serviced more effectively now than when they only received the analogue signal. Given the topography of some parts of the country I hope there will be no problems.

Deputy Cowen raised a specific point about not being able to watch one channel while recording another. There is no product on the market yet to deal with that. I presume it will emerge in future but I cannot give him any comfort on it this evening. There is no product available yet to deal with that on the Saorview system.

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