Seanad debates
Wednesday, 5 March 2003
Broadcasting (Major Events Television Coverage) (Amendment) Bill 2003: Second Stage.
I ask the Minister whether we have the right to designate events held abroad. A case in point is the summer Olympic Games, which the Minister has wisely included as highly popular but which are always held outside this jurisdiction. Another problem might arise in the case of a major event being held in Ireland, covered by one of our qualifying broadcasters and also by a satellite channel from outside the State. The overspill of the Irish signal may remove the possibility of the satellite or cable operator being able to sell its signal in Northern Ireland, Wales and the west country of England. The Ryder Cup would fall into that category and I want to know if there is a way to deal with this problem. I would also like to know why the Ryder Cup has not been designated because, as I understand it, Sky has done a deal with the organisers and it will not be available on terrestrial television in Ireland.
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