Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I welcome the main objective of the Bill, which is to establish a more flexible and market responsive model for licensing DTT in Ireland and to allow for progress to be made towards analogue switch-off. The development of a DTT platform will allow broadcasters to offer more in terms of content and services to Irish viewers. The Bill will also amend the remit of RTE to allow it to utilise public funding in the provision of a broadcasting service to Irish emigrant communities abroad.

This is welcome but why are radio services not included in the Bill? Many people and organisations called for the inclusion of radio in postings to the e-consultation process, which has now terminated. The Emigrant Advice Network, Age Action Ireland, the Consumers Association of Ireland, the Federation of Irish Societies, the Irish overseas, broadcasting research, RTE Pensioners' Association, Senior Citizens Parliament and Senior Times are among those who support the inclusion of radio in the Bill. The Emigrant Advice Network stresses the importance of a radio service as a medium particularly well suited to the needs of older people and more marginalised emigrants, as well as the visually impaired. Many of those emigrants have strong and fond memories of Radio Éireann, now a rich repository of archive material from the early days.

Radio is valuable as an inexpensive way of reaching large numbers of people easily through common technology. While a service that would serve Britain and beyond would be a great service to emigrants, it would also be of benefit to Irish licence holders who might be among the 140,000 Irish people on average who are outside the State per day, travelling abroad on holiday or business, or who might be among the 200,000 Irish people who own holiday homes abroad.

There is overwhelming support for the use of digital radio mondial or DRM. This new technology would allow RTE to reach a greater audience with a stronger signal and a clearer sound at a lower cost than other radio technologies. As it requires less energy, the technology is more environmentally friendly and will have minimal impact on global warming. While it is a new technology requiring the use of special DRM receivers, the receivers, which are currently priced at approximately €200, will become cheaper and more widely available as the service becomes more widespread, which it undoubtedly will. I am pleased to note that RTE's new long wave transmitter will be DRM compatible. The format is currently being used by 32 broadcasters, including the BBC, Radio Luxemburg, Radio Canada Int., Radio France, Radio New Zealand Int., and Deutsch Welle, to mention a few.

Now is the time to legislate for radio as well as television. I pay tribute to Mr. Enda O'Kane, a former long-standing and devoted RTE worker, who has researched this subject for a lifetime, as a labour of love. The research that has been undertaken on this subject should be acted on now. I urge the Minister to give due consideration to this matter before Committee Stage.

The National Council for the Blind Ireland, NCBI, says in a statement that it is supportive of the Bill, which will provide for the provision of television broadcasting services to Irish communities outside Ireland. The council considers it a positive, progressive and welcome move. However, the NCBI believes the Bill should go further as it will not meet the needs and rights of members of Irish communities outside Ireland who are also blind or vision impaired. The council urges that radio be included in the Bill. The Irish Senior Citizens Parliament also says in its statement that a DRM radio service should be available to emigrants.

A number of speakers have proposed the inclusion of radio in the Bill. I urge the Minister to introduce amendments on Committee Stage to take account of the wishes of speakers from all sides of the House on this subject.