Does the Minister intend to issue a letter of competition to the Limerick area and why has it not been done up to now?

I will consider the question of Limerick shortly but I have no immediate plans to do so. Galway and Cork are both fringe areas for broadcasting and it might be more prudent to wait and see the experience of the contractors in those cities before giving a licence to Limerick. I will keep the matter under review and when I consider it is in order to invite competition for Limerick I will do so.

Would the Minister not agree that by issuing the letter of competition he would get the project under way more quickly? At the end of the day the decision will be taken on the basis of the technology to be used and the technical data submitted with tenders for the project. Surely that is not a real excuse for not going ahead with Limerick. It had already been decided on and I should like to know if it is going ahead.

The question of inviting competition is not as simple as the Deputy suggests because the people who will compete will have to go to considerable expense in preparing submissions. It would be unfair to put them to that expense if it was not technically feasible.

I cannot accept what the Minister says, because people who are interested and go to that expense would know what was involved. That is no excuse.