Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 7 Oct 2026

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Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions

Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil

This morning, I was in the Westgrove Hotel in Clane with the County Kildare chamber, where there were 60 businesses represented. I was giving a keynote speech on the supports for SMEs that the State was providing and some simple use cases for AI by small and medium-sized enterprises, which really transform their businesses.

In February, the Government published the Digital Ireland: Connecting Our People, Securing Our Future strategy, which was a significant policy developed by the Government. The strategy looked at the digitalisation of public services and the use of AI, which is due to go across Departments, trying to identify efficiencies and ways in which the Government can deliver services to the public in a better and more practical manner.

Some elements of the strategy have already come into being. The AI regulation Act, enacted in July, brought into being the AI Office of Ireland - Oifig IS na hÉireann - with Paul Byrne as its first chief executive officer. He has taken to the role extremely well. The first AI sectoral champions have also been appointed. I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Niamh Smyth, in particular, for her work.

On Wednesday of next week, we will have the International AI Summit, which will be one of the key events of the EU Presidency this year and also one of the largest international AI events taking place not only in Europe, but globally, in 2026. While there are extremely positive developments here, what is key for any type of policy like this is how it is being tracked. How do we track delivery, particularly when it goes across Departments and is not specific to, for example, the Department of enterprise, where AI actually sits? This is where we can realise substantial benefits, particularly when it comes to public services.

There is a need for greater sectoral adoption. The sectoral champions have been appointed, but we need to ensure that our SMEs are adopting AI properly. We had the Microsoft AI diffusion report, which showed that Ireland was first in Europe for AI adoption and third globally, which is significant. However, real adoption is very different from simply using AI. Somebody logging on and putting a query into ChatGPT or Copilot is very different from someone creating an agent to help run a business, whether for payroll or whatever else.

The risk with that, and something we have to be really cognisant of, is tokenisation. As companies such as Anthropic, which operates Claude, and OpenAI look to float publicly, either later next year or the year after, there is a chance that the cost of using AI will increase significantly, not just for SMEs, but also for the State. We need a strategy to look at how we will tackle that if it does come into being. If we are trying to get our businesses to adopt AI, then we need to ensure that they can afford it.

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know it is one that is dear to his heart and he has put a lot of work into it and done a lot of research on it. Clearly, the digital Ireland strategy was published in February with the aim of strengthening Ireland’s position as a digital leader and a global hub for applied AI innovation. To cut to the Deputy's point, implementation is driven from the centre of Government to ensure a coherent, whole-system approach. It is overseen by the Cabinet committee on economy, trade and competitiveness.

A cross-departmental group, led by my Department, tracks the implementation and progress across all 90 deliverables and reports to the senior officials' group on digital and AI, including detailed quarterly progress reports. As the Deputy knows, the strategy has about 90 deliverables.

A new strategy, AI for Care, was published in April, so there is a lot of progress being made. A free online AI skilling platform, AIready.ie, was launched in April, with phase two to follow shortly. A new AI cybersecurity risk assessment and guidelines for AI adoption in the public sector were published by the National Cyber Security Centre in June. New Rinn research centres in AI and quantum science and technology were announced in July as part of the new €460 million Research Ireland Rinn research centres launch. Ireland's AI Factory Antenna was launched in July, supporting SME access to supercomputing infrastructure. The new AI Office of Ireland was established in August as a national co-ordination point under the EU AI Act and as the host of an AI regulatory sandbox. It will also play a key role in improving AI literacy.

The International AI Summit, which I know the Deputy pushed very strongly for under our Presidency, will take place next week. That is now a flagship event in the EU Presidency. Very significant global CEOs have accepted the invitation to attend and speak. It is an opportunity to showcase Europe and Ireland's ambition to harness AI for growth and competitiveness in a way that is consistent with European values.

Yesterday's budget was significant. People talk about a lot of things but one of the more significant parts of yesterday's budget was the allocation of €150 million for a three-year programme to strengthen skills resilience across the economy, including in respect of AI and digital skills. That is through the utilisation of the National Training Fund. IBEC and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions had called for that. We have responded now in a very comprehensive way.

My Department will prepare an overall progress report, which we will publish early next year, showing the progress achieved across all aspects of the digital strategy.

On the Deputy's latter points, this is a matter we will keep under constant review. I take the Deputy's point. There is still a journey to go here regarding how all this plays out in terms of bigger companies, flotation and so on.

Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil

It is important to acknowledge the work of the Irish Government by comparison with that of our counterparts across Europe and, indeed, globally. We are at the forefront of adopting AI and trying to make progress, and the Taoiseach has outlined much of the progress the Government has made already. I very much welcome the €150 million allocated from the National Training Fund. The relevant Minister, Deputy Lawless, will be spearheading that.

A policy I developed, which I spoke to the Taoiseach about previously, was on retraining people within their jobs, if a job is at risk, rather than after or before the fact. It would be great to see if the €150 million could be used in this regard. Progress is happening at the Cabinet subcommittee and the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment is doing an exceptional job regarding AI but I would like consideration to be given to putting the AI portfolio under the Department of the Taoiseach in future, as it relates to all Departments, not just the Department of enterprise. While there is obviously a focus on SMEs, there is a focus on healthcare, public services, etc. It might be something to consider in the future.

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy. Increasingly, people want more activities to be under the aegis of the Department of the Taoiseach, and I understand that. We do have a co-ordination role across Departments. I accept the Deputy's point that there is a need for a whole-of-government approach. In fact, the Minister for public expenditure has a significant role in the application of AI to public service provision and customer service for those who avail of Government services. There is huge potential in terms of delivering public services more efficiently and effectively, and in terms of retraining and redeployment within the public service.

Rather than see AI as a threat, we should see it as an opportunity for everybody working. We have expanded the public service very significantly. There is now an opportunity to regard AI not always as a threat and a danger but as an opportunity to deliver services.

In the medical world, AI has huge potential. We need to embrace that in terms of getting better outcomes for patients and administering our health service more effectively and more efficiently because we have been lagging in terms of the digitalisation of our health service. This gives us an opportunity to catch up.

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