THE Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Mr Dukes, has announced that application forms are now being accepted from people seeking retransmission licences under the UHF Television Retransmission Scheme.
The scheme is an attempt to deal with the issue of illegal deflector systems, which provide multi-channel television to tens of thousands of people in the north-west, the south and south-east and the western seaboard.
The first stage of the process involves the submission of preliminary details to Mr Dukes's Department.
The second stage will involve the submission of technical information following publication of a national frequency list for television broadcasting.
Earlier this year the Cable Communications Association of Ireland, which includes the licensed MMDS operators Cablelink Casey Television and Suir Nore commissioned a report by accountants Deloitte and Touche which claimed there were up to 100 illegal deflector systems in operation. The report estimated that the illegal operators were costing the Government £1.2 million a year in lost revenue and were costing licence-holders a similar amount.
The Fianna Fail spokesman on communications, Mr Seamus Brennan, accused Mr Dukes of "blatant electioneering" and said the Government was still "wriggling" on the issue. "Deflector groups may be able to apply next week but there will be no licences until 1998 and the Government has still not said how much the licences are going to cost."
Mr Ray Doyle, honorary secretary of the CCAI, said they would need to examine the draft regulations under which the Minister proposed to issue the licences before taking any action.