§ Mr. Robert McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what estimate she has made of the cost of the engineering changes to UK transmitters of allowing the removal of power restrictions at the Clermont Carn transmitter in the Republic of Ireland in order to improve RTE coverage in Northern Ireland; and who will pay the costs of such changes. [15821]
§ Mr. SproatThe Irish Minister for the Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht has given an assurance that RTE has undertaken to bear the engineering costs of UK broadcasters directly attributable to the proposed alterations to the Clermont Carn transmitter. The BBC and Independent Television Commission, which are responsible for television transmission arrangements in the UK, have estimated that the engineering costs of changes to UK transmitters attributable to an increase in the power of transmission from the Clermont Carn transmitter could be in the region of £650,000.