Facebook's parent company Meta was advised of Wi-Fi problems in the office of the Minister of Further and Higher Education, Innovation and Science ahead of a planned virtual reality demonstration.
Documents released to RTÉ News under Freedom of Information, show that Meta requested a meeting with Minister Simon Harris in June to outline its plans for the 'Metaverse', a virtual reality world that allows people to meet and interact in interconnected 3D digital spaces.
Meta had offered to bring along a virtual reality (VR) headset to demonstrate the technology and, in an email ahead of the meeting, asked the minister's office for Wi-Fi information.
"Unfortunately, we do not currently have Wi-Fi freely available as a provider has yet to be procured given our office's presence in a listed building (which) is undergoing a stage by stage refurbishment," a member of the minister's staff wrote in reply.
"We do have ethernet cables that can be used with the VR device," the staff member added.
The Meta representative replied that it might be best to cancel the planned demonstration.
"We'll go without the VR demo in that case as it would be tricky to do without Wi-Fi," she wrote.
In response, the department official asked if the demonstration could be retained as part of the meeting.
"While we do have Wi-Fi on the upper floors of the building, its efficacy can be reduced in the minister's office itself," the staff member wrote.
"However, if you could please retain the VR demo as an agenda point when you do come along as the minister would certainly be keen for a demonstration, all going well," he added.
There is no reference to a VR demonstration in notes of the meeting which were drafted by the department after it took place on 27 June.
Meta told Minister Harris and his officials that it was developing partnerships on skills for the Metaverse in other countries such as South Korea, UAE and France.
"Meta asked that Ireland consider establishing a committee/taskforce for the Metaverse to drive forward collaboration," according to the meeting notes.
"Meta asked that Ireland consider calling out more clearly the importance of immersive technology skills in particular and consider apprenticeships in the area of AR/VR (augmented reality/virtual reality), and also referenced XR (extended reality)," the department also noted.
A spokesperson for Minister Harris said that he had a productive meeting with Meta as part of ongoing engagement between his Department and industry regarding skills needs in Ireland now and into the future.
"The minister has partaken in many VR demos so the meeting was focused on Government strategies, apprenticeships among other matters outlined in the meeting documents."
"The building was undergoing works over a period of time including on that day. However, Wi-Fi was available in the building," the spokesperson added.
