Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 13, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following:

"(d) the principal British television broadcasting services which are free to air as of the enactment of this Act.".

This amendment is a replica of an amendment I tabled on Committee Stage. The other amendments were graciously accepted by the Minister, but I was very unhappy with the response to this particular amendment. I did not press the amendment because I wanted to give the Minister an opportunity to look at this important issue.

Among other things, this Bill will bring about the end of analogue, which will mean the end of what is known as the spillover whereby the signal of British channels is received by a significant number of Irish households, especially on the east coast. The ending of analogue and the arrival of digital in a short two-year period will mean that this spillover will end. Those who currently receive British channels free-to-air will no longer receive them on that basis, as it is the Minister's intention to have the first multiplex that contains Irish stations only. The Minister stated that there will still be some spillover in the Border counties, but the rest of the country will have to pay for British channels.

This amendment asks the Government to be generous and to create an equality throughout the country based on what is currently available on the east coast. The whole country should receive the main British channels free-to-air in a multiplex which could be simultaneously available with the first multiplex. When he was before the House, the Minister made it clear that it would be possible for two multiplexes to be rolled out simultaneously. The Government might regret not doing this as consumers would soon see that it is effectively charging people for something that they currently obtain for free. From a political point of view, that would not be positively received.