Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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652. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if the Wifi4EU project will be relaunched for 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46397/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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WiFi4EU is an initiative funded by the European Commission and co-funded in Ireland by my Department. The initiative aims 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.

Ireland’s local authorities could apply for up to 4 vouchers each throughout the lifetime of the initiative. Local authorities must install a minimum of 10 access points per voucher. Depending on the location chosen, one or more access point may be required in that location.

Our local authorities have secured 114 vouchers out of a maximum of 124 vouchers available, which makes Ireland one of the most successful countries to take part in the scheme. 30 of the 31 local authorities secured vouchers under the scheme.

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.

To date, my department has provided total funding of €1,259,411 to support this initiative.

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. The EU Commission granted an extension to implementation deadline for some local authorities until February 2023. However, the Commission has not announced a renewal or a further tranche of the programme.