RTÉ Plus was a proposed free-to-air

Free-to-air

Free-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...

 television channel from Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ Television

RTÉ Television

RTÉ Television is a department of Ireland's state broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann.The first channel to broadcast was Telefís Éireann which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961...

. It was expected to launch in phase 2 of RTÉ One +1

RTÉ One

RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...

 (which launched on the 27 May 2011 on Saorview

Saorview

Saorview is the national free-to-air digital terrestrial television service in Republic of Ireland.The service began operation on 29 October 2010 on a trial basis with full launch on 26 May 2011. By legislation it was required to be available to approximately 90% of the population by end of...

).

History

Under proposals, phase 1 of RTÉ Plus includes the channel broadcasting as a +1 service for RTÉ One's prime time schedule, starting each night after RTÉjr closes at 19:00 on weekdays, and maintaining a 24 hour schedule on weekends. Phase 1 of the service was launched on 27 May 2011. Phase 2 of RTÉ Plus will be made up of an entirely different schedule to that of RTÉ One, which RTÉ hopes to be available in May 2012.

Minister Pat Carey has given the go-ahead for RTÉ One +1 for a maximum of four years, at which point it will be reviewed.