Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

The 1982-87 coalition Government gave away our rights to satellite broadcasting to Atlantic Satellites, a £1 shelf company. This happened in advance of the advent of satellite broadcasting at its current levels. Ireland was allocated a slot over the Indian Ocean which was a footprint into all of Europe, including Britain and Ireland. Nobody seems to be able to locate the relevant file in the Department. I was not in the Department after that period, so I could not research the matter but it is on the record and I have a good recollection of it. A fellow countyman of the Minister of State, a Mr. Stafford from Wexford, was the main promoter of Atlantic Satellites at that time. It was a shelf company.