Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

): I thank Senators McFadden, Wilson and Hannigan, among others, for their worthy contributions. We all know of and understand the technology. Senator Hannigan, more than most, got to grips with the issue. I do not intend to provide authorisation to allow the State to issue compensation to those whose television reception has been affected. Without washing my hands of responsibility for anything, it is the role of ComReg to supervise the system and advise customers and others affected by the new technology. The problem lies with older television sets which, as one speaker mentioned, are not fit for purpose. Having listened to Senators, I will contact TETRA Ireland executives and ask them to meet me to see if they can assist in genuine cases where people who are not particularly well off have to cope with big bills. I invite all those Senators who made a contribution to join me at that meeting in order that we can make these points directly to the company concerned.

It seems there have not been many complaints; there is not a lot fear or loathing about this issue. So far ComReg has received 90 complaints. The network is virtually complete and almost fully rolled out across the country. There are some exceptions in the Border counties. I take on board Senator Wilson's very wise suggestion that in the future, when newer generation equipment is being installed, ComReg should write to people to alert them to the actions being taken. I will ask it to place advertisements in the newspapers detailing the effects. The audit indicates that to date 90 people have been affected. A full audit is not possible because we cannot know what people have in their homes.