asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will give details of (a) the cost (b) the purpose and (c) whether it was necessary to obtain planning permission for the structure which has recently been erected on the roof of his Department.

The structure referred to in the question was an RTE transmitter mounted on scaffolding which facilitated the relaying of the "People in Need" charity broadcast from the Mansion House on Friday 21 April, 1989. RTE arranged for the erection of the transmitter at no cost to my Department. The structure was removed the following day, Saturday, 22 April, and because of the short duration involved planning permission was not deemed necessary.