—he always takes questions and reports in this House. The Estimates were taken yesterday and he stuck it out for three hours. The Minister was only there for one hour. I know the Minister is on serious business this afternoon but, nonetheless, it is regrettable that all the legislation in this portfolio has been taken by the Minister of State. Why should he not be in the Cabinet?
Does this decision by Greg Dyke and the BBC not place RTE in the worst catch-22 situation it could possibly find itself and facing the worst crisis in its history? Does the Minister of State accept that when the BBC's eight channels go on the free Astra service, the footprint of which includes this island and the island of Britain, it will be possible for any subscriber here to have all those British channels and, most likely, ITV, other British channels and up to 100 international channels free of charge following a once-off payment of perhaps €300? RTE will, therefore, be in a catch-22 situation. Will it go on the Astra service itself along with the BBC? RTE will not be in the number one slot which BBC England will almost certainly occupy. Even BBC Scotland, BBC Wales and BBC Northern Ireland are concerned about that. If it goes on the Astra service, what happens to its programme rights? Effectively, somebody in northern England or in Edinburgh will be able to view any American series free of charge? Will RTE then not have to pay up to ten times the price it now pays for viewing rights? Is RTE not behind the eight ball?
Is the Minister, who is not here again today, not lethargic in not immediately going to see the Culture Secretary or whoever is responsible in the UK Government to try to thrash this out? I urge the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, to take this issue seriously, which he has not done so far, and to meet RTE and TV3 executives and those at the highest levels of the British Government to see if we can ensure public service broadcasting in this country is protected. Is it not a disastrous situation?