RTE faces difficult negotiations in its effort to secure a 40 per cent share of the company which will control the digital television transmission network, it was made clear yesterday.
The chairman of the RTE Authority, Prof Farrel Corcoran, has admitted the station's executives still have "quite a bit of talking to do" with the Minister, Ms de Valera, over the future of its transmission network.
Station executives have been in public conflict with Ms de Valera in recent weeks over reports that she is considering privatising the station's transmission network.
The Broadcasting Bill, which is going through the Oireachtas, provides for RTE to hold a 40 per cent share in Digico, the company which will control the transmission system for digital television. However, Ms de Valera has told the Dail "certain difficulties have arisen in the structuring of the transaction".
Prof Corcoran said the RTE delegation's meeting with Ms de Valera yesterday at her Department's offices was "lengthy and useful" but that the issues at stake were "going to take a bit of time to tease out".
The difficulties about the size of RTE's shareholding in Digico centre around a disagreement between the station and AIB Corporate Finance on the value of its transmission network.
RTE maintains the network is worth £60£70 million and therefore entitles it to 40 per cent of Digico. However, AIB, which is advising a project management group on the creation of the digital network, is thought to believe the existing network is worth about half RTE's valuation.
TV3 warned yesterday that if the Government put too high a valuation on RTE's transmission network, it might have to be referred to the European Commission. The director of regulatory and legal affairs at the station, Mr Mark Deering, said if RTE's share of Digico was based on an over-valuation of the network, "the European Commission might not view it favour ably. You could claim it would be in effect a State aid to RTE."
The RTE delegation at yesterday's meeting included Prof Corcoran; the chairman-designate of the RTE authority, Mr Paddy Wright; the director general, Mr Bob Collins, and the managing director, organisation and development, Mr Liam Miller.
A spokesman for the Taoiseach has denied a report in The Irish Times yesterday that Mr Ahern was among the Cabinet members who have expressed opposition Ms de Valera's proposals to sell off RTE's transmission system.
The spokesman said the Taoiseach had not expressed any view on the matter.
