The Minister for the Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms De Valera said that she intended to make an additional payment of £1.2 million to Teilifis na Gaeilge (TnaG).
The allocation provided for in the abridged Book of Estimates for 1999 in relation to TnaG was in excess of the amount that would be payable in accordance with the formula approved by the previous Government in January 1995.
It was her intention to seek Dail approval for a supplementary estimate to enable an additional payment of £1.2 million to be made to TnaG this year, the Minister said.
TnaG, under the overall responsibility of the RTE Authority until it was established as a separate entity, would have to develop proposals on how it might wish to develop its service in the context of digital broadcasting, she said.