The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources said today the regulation of satellite TV and the development of broadband services will be among his priorities during Ireland's European Union Presidency.
Mr Dermot Ahern also said he would be pressing for agreement on international legislation banning SPAM emails.
He said satellite television broadcasters will face regulation in the country where they provide services, rather than just in the jurisdiction in which their headquarters are based.
"We need a level playing field in the area of broadcasting," he said today. "It is simply not on that satellite broadcasters are not regulated in the markets into which they broadcast. We need to be able to apply national measures to satellite broadcasters."
He said he would use the EU Television Without Frontiers Directive to deal with this issue. This same directive was the basis for the Government's recent appeal against the Football Association of Ireland's deal with Sky to broadcast home soccer internationals.
The minister also said he intends to focus on the development and exploitation of broadband infrastructure and services during the six-month presidency.
"The challenge we will set for the EU is to ensure that broadband is not just universally available throughout the EU, but crucially, is universally accessible and affordable," he said. "Where there is clear evidence of market failure to deliver broadband, it should be recognised that there is a legitimate role for State intervention on a targeted, transparent and competitively neutral basis."