The Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, has asked TV3 to find a place in its schedule for Irish-language programmes.
She has also urged it to expand its coverage from its initial 85 per cent of the population. She said increased coverage, enabling more people to view the new service, would develop and consolidate TV3's Irish identity.
Opening TV3's facilities in west Dublin, Ms de Valera said RTE had served the country well but the lack of an indigenous television alternative had been "sorely felt".
"Competition and choice have historically made markets stronger, and I am convinced that this will also be the case in the broadcasting sector. TV3 will have a hugely positive impact on broadcasting and on the audiovisual sector generally in Ireland.
"New programmes, new approaches and perspectives, particularly in the vital areas of news and current affairs, will bring about true diversity and choice in Irish television services. It will be crucial to TV3's success that it becomes a service with which the Irish viewer will identify.
"I am glad that the station has recognised this. I know that TV3 also believes that its presence will increase the level of Irish audiences for indigenously-delivered broadcasting services.
"I applaud this strategy and the fact that TV3 is prepared to take the risks involved in delivering on it."
TV3 comes on air on Sunday at 5.30 p.m. with a 30-minute programme introducing the new service called This Is TV3.
This will be followed by its nightly hour-long news programme and then Messrs Tylak and Rooney, a light-hearted Irish travel show and one of the few Irish-made programmes, outside news and current affairs, being shown at prime time.
Ms de Valera said television had become news itself and had increasingly become the means by which people interpreted the world.
As more and more channels vied with each other there was a fear of the lowest common denominator, or "dumbing down" of TV. Such a pessimistic view underestimated the audience which had always demanded quality and diversity of programmes.
She said she was heartened at the importance which TV3 attached to home-produced programmes. She praised the TV3 chairman, Mr James Morris, for his dogged determination in seeing the idea through. Mr Morris and the original consortium were first given the licence in 1989.
The new station had a unique opportunity to invigorate the Irish broadcasting and audiovisual sector. "With a fresh approach to programming and scheduling, TV3 has the capacity to make itself an integral part of the fabric of Irish broadcasting," she said.
Mr Morris recalled last night seeing an advertisement in The Irish Times in 1988 seeking applicants for a national TV licence.
He said TV3 intended to become an important voice in Irish society and would offer an alternative to RTE. Outside of news and current affairs, 70 per cent of Irish viewers were tuning in to British channels. That offered great potential for a new Irish television station.
The chairman of the Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC), Mr Niall Stokes, said an alternative was now on offer. It had great potential but it was now down to the programming.