asked the Minister for Communications if he is aware that areas of County Donegal do not receive a reasonable reception of RTE 1 and 2; and the steps which are being taken to improve the position.

This is primarily a matter for RTE. RTE state that reception of their services in County Donegal are in general satisfactory; they are aware, however, that the quality of reception may vary in different parts of the county because of the nature of the terrain. They say they would be happy to investigate individual cases and advise viewers to make the best use of available signals. RTE state that they are proceeding to improve coverage by their services as quickly as their resources permit, but say that it will not be possible to effect any major improvements in County Donegal during the current year.

Have RTE specified the areas in County Donegal that are unsatisfactory?

No. I suggest that Deputy Gallagher take this matter up directly with RTE. They told me that if specific problems were drawn to their attention they would see how they could deal with them.

Would the Minister accept that it is particularly difficult to expect people in those areas to pay the full licence for colour televisions while not receiving the same excellent reception as other areas? Does he accept that some areas in County Donegal get better reception from some foreign channels than from our own?

It is possible that is the case in certain areas depending on the location of the relevant transmitters. It is RTE's duty to ensure that television reception in every part of the country is at a level which is acceptable to the viewers.

Is the Minister aware that the Devil's back bone in Fanad is causing considerable interference and weakness of signals?

No.

Can I ask the Minister if he will inform RTE that some areas in the west and the north west of County Donegal and particularly the Gaeltacht Lár areas, are receiving no picture at all and other areas are receiving a very poor picture? Would he, as Minister responsible for communications, impress upon RTE the necessity to provide all parts of Donegal with the same reception as the rest of the country?

As I have said, it is RTE's duty to provide a television signal to every part of this country at an acceptable level. I accept fully that if there are pockets of any county which are not receiving a proper television signal, it is RTE's duty to ensure that they do. I will draw the Deputy's questions to the attention of the RTE Authority.