The Minister did not mention the rate of return on investment he allows. Perhaps he would tell us. I ask that because there is concern about the already high prices for the service that is being provided by Cablelink which has a monopoly in the Dublin area. Can the Minister give us some indication of the rate of return, and assurances that if Cablelink were in private hands the consumer would be protected from unfair charges? Will the Minister reflect on whether it is premature to comment on the deployment of resources since the only reason RTE want to sell Cablelink is so that they would be free to invest and improve? For many years RTE have been unhappy with the sanction they have got from the Minister's Department for the spending of their own resources. It is far from premature to comment.

That is a rather long question.

Perhaps the Minister would reply to it?

The Deputy seems to be slightly confused. At the end of his question he says that Cablelink are unhappy about the sanction I give them for the spending of their own resources, but at the beginning of the question he is decrying the fact that the Cablelink charges are so high in the Dublin area. If Cablelink and RTE as the 80 per cent shareholders had their way, the Cablelink subscription would be far higher in the Dublin region. It is because I have been constantly monitoring it that it is at the level it is at. It is about half what the Cork community are asked to pay.

It has less than half the stations.

The Deputy can be assured that the first priority is the interest of subscribers in relation to the subscriptions for cable services. In regard to the specific rate of return on investment, I have not got that information.

Question No. 3 was very specific. It asked for the rate of return and it is not good enough for the Minister to come in here and say that he has not got that information with him. It is only right that the public should know what return on capital is obtained by this monopoly company in State ownership and if it will affect that return if it subsequently goes into private hands. I ask the Minister to come back to this House as soon as possible with that information.

If it is a rip-off the Minister should say so.

Deputy Bruton can be assured that the question of the sale will be monitored very carefully by me.

That is not the question.

The contributions from the Deputy from Clare are at the level I would expect from him.

The Minister is evading the question.