Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second Senator Fidelma Healy Eames’s proposed amendment to the Order of Business.

Last week I raised the issue of RTE closing down its 252 long wave, LW, radio transmission to the detriment of the Diaspora. I promised then that I would continue to press the issue. I wish to inform the House that earlier this morning at the meeting of the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications I got the agreement of colleagues that the committee would request RTE representatives to appear before it next week to explain this outrageous decision which has caused enormous anger among the Diaspora. A letter was received from the enterprise and communications committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly which was circulated at the committee meeting, in which it expressed its concern about the shutdown of the 252 LW transmission, which will deny listeners in Northern Ireland the opportunity to listen to RTE Radio One programmes. I wish RTE would understand what it is doing with this decision. I expect it to reply positively to the invitation for its representatives to appear before the committee. When ii does, I hope it will explain the spin it has put on its decision and that it cost €900,000 to transmit programmes on 252 LW. The whole business smells fishy and is not right. I will continue to raise the issue until there is a satisfactory resolution, namely, RTE suspending its decision at the very least. I am particularly disappointed that when I tabled this as an Adjournment matter - it is not the Leader’s fault as it came through the Cathaoirleach - it was turned down, as the Minister had claimed he had no competence in the area. How far have democracy and accountability gone that the Minister in charge of RTE allows this policy decision, not an operational one, to go ahead which affects a large segment of the Diaspora? The Minister seems to have washed his hands of the matter, claiming he has no competence in it.