S.I. No. 252/1991:

WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY (TELEVISION PROGRAMME RETRANSMISSION AND RELAY) REGULATIONS, 1991.

WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY (TELEVISION PROGRAMME RETRANSMISSION AND RELAY) REGULATIONS, 1991.

I, SÉAMUS BRENNAN, Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 6 (1) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1926 (No. 45 of 1926), and the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act, 1983 (No. 40 of 1983), and the Tourism, Transport and Communications (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1991, hereby make the following Regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Wireless Telegraphy (Television Programme Retransmission and Relay) Regulations, 1991.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 3rd day of October, 1991.

2. The Interpretation Act, 1937 (No. 38 of 1937), applies to these Regulations.

3. (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) of this Regulation, nothing in the Wireless Telegraphy (Wired Broadcast Relay Licence) Regulations, 1974 ( S.I. No. 67 of 1974 ), or the Wireless Telegraphy (Television Programme Retransmission) Regulations, 1989 ( S.I. No. 39 of 1989 ), shall be construed as restricting the retransmission in the State of any--

( a ) television broadcasts from Member States of the European Communities for reasons which fall within the fields co-ordinated by Council Directive 89/552/EEC⁽¹⁾, or

⁽¹⁾O.J. No. L298 of 17 October 1989.

( b ) television programme service broadcast from States (not being Member States of the European Communities) which are parties to the European Convention on Transfrontier Television where such broadcasts comply with the terms of the said Convention.

(2) The Minister may provisionally suspend retransmission of television broadcasts from a Member State of the European Communities by a licensee within the meaning of the Regulations mentioned in paragraph (1) of this Regulation if--

( a ) such broadcasts manifestly, seriously and gravely infringe Article 22 of Council Directive 89/552/EEC,

( b ) during the previous twelve months, the broadcaster has infringed the said Article 22 on at least two prior occasions, and

(i) the Minister has notified the broadcaster and the Commission of the European Communities in writing of the alleged infringements and of its intention to restrict retransmission should any such infringement occur again,

(ii) consultations between the Minister and the Commission have not produced an amicable settlement within 15 days of the notification referred to in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, and

(iii) the alleged infringement persists.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4) of this Regulation, the Minister may suspend provisionally the retransmission by a licensee within the meaning of the Regulations mentioned in paragraph (1) of this Regulation of a television programme service broadcast from a State (other than a Member State of the European Communities) that is a party to the European Convention on Transfrontier Television where he has communicated to the transmitting party a complaint giving details of the alleged violation and both parties have endeavoured to overcome the difficulty on the basis of the provisions of Articles 19, 25 and 26 of the said Convention--

( a ) within two weeks of the said communication, if the alleged violation is of a manifest, serious and grave nature which raised important public issues and concerns Article 7, paragraphs 1 or 2, 12, 13, paragraph 1, first entrance, 14 or 15 paragraphs 1 or 3, of the said Convention, and

( b ) in all other cases, eight months following the said communication, if the allegation persists.

(4) The provisional suspensions of retransmission shall not be allowed in the case of alleged violations of Article 7, paragraph 3, 8, 9, or 10 of the said Convention.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 27th day of September, 1991.

SÉAMUS BRENNAN,

Minister for Tourism, Transport

and Communications.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations provide that subject to certain conditions nothing in the Wireless Telegraphy (Wired Broadcast Relay Licence) Regulations, 1974 or the Wireless Telegraphy (Television Programme Retransmission) Regulations, 1989 shall be construed as restricting the retransmission in this State of any television broadcasts from Member States of the European Communities or from States (being non-Member States of the European Communities) which are parties to the European Convention on Transfrontier Television.