There is growing unease among TDs and Senators following RTÉ's decision to close its medium wave radio service from March 24th.
The controversy is expected to be raised at a meeting between the Oireachtas Committee on Communications and RTÉ personnel within the next few weeks.
An RTÉ spokesman said yesterday that the move would save the national broadcaster €1 million. "Over 90 per cent of all radio listenership is on FM. The other 10 per cent is shared between long wave, medium wave and the internet," he added.
"Our view is that virtually everybody who can access RTÉ on medium wave can access it on long wave because it travels much further."
He said that long wave could access 20 million households in the UK, while medium wave could only reach a tiny fraction of that. Eighty per cent of cars had access to long wave, he added.
The spokesman said that religious and other programmes, currently featured on medium wave, would be available on long wave.
"RTÉ is looking at options, including improving the signal in certain locations," he said.
Fine Gael communications spokesman Simon Coveney said that while RTÉ had a duty to cut costs, the social implications of closing its medium wave service had not been adequately debated. "There are elderly people who will have to buy a new radio set to pick up long wave," he said.
Labour spokeswoman on communications Liz McManus claimed that the decision contravened the spirit of the Belfast Agreement. "RTÉ has a significant audience in the North, especially among the nationalist community, and their right to listen to our national broadcaster has been severely curtailed," she said.
"Tuning in to RTÉ radio medium wave forms part of the traditional cross-Border links enjoyed by many in Northern Ireland, serving all ages and social groups."
Mayo Fine Gael TD and spokesman on rural affairs Michael Ring said it would affect many of his constituents. "These are people who live in remote areas and have relied on this frequency all their lives," he said.
"It has been part of their lives. It has been, in many respects, something of a social service provided by RTÉ, and it should be retained."
Senator Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fáil), a former TD for the sprawling Cork South-West constituency, also called on RTÉ to retain the service. "As somebody who lived abroad in the 1970s in London, working my way through college, I remember the importance of the service for emigrants," he said.
"To listen to the broadcast of a GAA match was hugely important for emigrants."
He said many of those who would be most affected were now silent because they were unaware it was going to happen.
Mr O'Donovan said while a young generation might be adept with modern technology, there was still a significant number of people who relied on the medium wave service. "These are people of modest means who who might also be living in remote areas. They have been using this service for years and years," he said.
"I would call on RTÉ to reverse this decision. The closure of this service will not save a great deal of money, and if it can make people's lives happier at home and abroad, why not continue with it?"