Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 305: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he is considering a claw-back mechanism to recover from the State windfall profits which have been generated for individuals by the sale of companies which have been awarded broadcasting licences and valuable Irish spectrum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19491/07]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The award of broadcasting licences is, in the first instance, a matter for the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI). The BCI is charged under the corpus of broadcasting legislation with the orderly development of commercial and community broadcasting services in Ireland.

In late 2003, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources initiated a review of the radio licensing framework in Ireland. The issues arising during the course of this review informed the development of the draft general scheme of the Broadcasting Bill. The draft general scheme was submitted to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources in September 2006 for the purposes of public consultation under the eConsultation initiative.

Head 67 of the draft general scheme proposes an amendment to section 6 of the Radio and Television Act 1988, to permit the proposed contract awards committee of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), at the direction of the BAI, to consider the amount of any once-off cash bid, periodic cash payment or royalty proposed by an applicant, as one of the selection criteria in a sound broadcasting contract award process. This provision is intended to add to the range of discretionary mechanisms available to the BAI to reduce the likelihood of broadcast contract holders extracting supernormal profits from the sector.

It is proposed to publish the Broadcasting Bill towards the end of this year having considered the Joint Oireachtas Committee's conclusions on the outcome of the eConsultation process.