1525. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if there is any avenue available for community groups who had broadband supplied through the WIFI4EU programme to have the service expanded to cover additional parts of their facilities. [65372/26]

WiFi4EU was an initiative funded by the European Commission and co-funded in Ireland by my Department. The initiative aimed to support the development of wireless broadband by providing a high-quality internet service, free of charge, in public spaces such as main streets, public parks, libraries, museums, and other public areas of high footfall.

Under the WiFi4EU scheme, local authorities applied through a competitive process to secure vouchers worth €15,000 each to install Wi-Fi hotspots within their municipalities. The Wifi4EU voucher was a payment to cover the infrastructure and installation costs of Wi-Fi hotspots meeting the requirements defined in the EU call text and the Grant Agreement signed with the selected municipalities.

My department provided co-funding of up to €15,000 for each voucher secured by the local authorities, effectively doubling the value of the investment and in total provided funding of €1,259,411 to support the initiative.

While the EU Commission granted an extension of the original implementation deadline to early 2023, it has not announced a new tranche of the programme. Responsibility for the operation, maintenance and management of the existing WiFi4EU installations rests with the relevant local authority.