Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 January 2026
233. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide a list of AI pilot projects which have taken place in her Department within the past 12 months; the expenditure associated with those projects; and whether they are still ongoing, in tabular form. [74134/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department’s approach to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is aligned to the Guidelines for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Public Service and guidance provided by the National Cyber Security Centre
The Department is engaging in research on internally hosted Large Language Models (LLM). This research has been conducted using the Department’s business data with a view to enhancing efficiency, productivity and knowledge management. Existing technical infrastructure is used for this purpose. This work is ongoing.
The first implementation of a LLM for business use is a digital assistant which is integrated into the passport processing system. This allows officials of the Passport Service to query a departmental knowledge base for passport issuing guidelines and legislation. This digital assistant was implemented in late 2025.
The cost of server enhancements for hosting AI models was approximately €30,000 in 2025.
