Viewers will be able to see the words spoken in a live broadcast as text on their television screens.
RTÉ plans to extend how it provides subtitles to include live television programmes.
The closed caption system is based on court reporting as seen in the recent coverage of the OJ Simpson trial.
Machines transcribe the spoken word into a form of shorthand based on phonetics, exactly as happens in a court case.
The system transcribes speech into shorthand and then back into recognisable words in English. This will provide greater accessibility for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
Eugene Murray, of RTÉ Programme Services, explains that anyone with a teletext enabled television set can dial up page 888 on Aertel and receive subtitles for pre-recorded programmes such as 'Glenroe' and 'Fair City'. The new closed caption system will allow the subtitling of live television broadcasts.
The RTÉ service is being provided by three verbatim reporters who can transcribe up to 260 words per minute.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 4 December 1995. The reporter is Colm Connolly.
