Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2026
564. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment whether his Department is considering measures to compel watermarking on AI-generated images and videos;; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12088/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. As Artificial Intelligence technologies become increasingly sophisticated and widespread, it is essential that citizens can distinguish between human-created and AI-generated content. It is also fundamental to maintaining public trust and enabling citizens to make informed decisions in an age where AI-generated media can be virtually indistinguishable from authentic content.
The EU AI Act, which entered into force in August 2024, establishes harmonised rules for Artificial Intelligence across the European Union. Notably, the AI Act introduces specific transparency obligations for providers of certain AI systems that generate or manipulate image, audio, or video content - including generative and interactive AI.
These rules will become applicable in August 2026 and aim to reduce the risk of misinformation, fraud, impersonation, and consumer deception by fostering trust in the information ecosystem. Under the AI Act (https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/regulatory-framework-ai), content such as deepfakes and certain AI-generated text and other synthetic material must be clearly marked as such, in a machine-readable format and detectable as artificially generated or manipulated at the point of consumption by a person or another system. This applies to text, image, audio, and video content.
In November 2025, as part of the implementation of the EU AI Act, the European Commission launched work on a code of practice on the marking and labelling of AI-generated content. The work brings together independent experts appointed by the European AI Office, marks the beginning of an inclusive, seven-month, stakeholder-driven process to draft the code. The independent experts are currently leading the process, using input from the public consultation (https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-launches-consultation-develop-guidelines-and-code-practice-transparent-ai-systems) and stakeholders selected through an open call. My Department along with representatives from other national authorities involved in the AI Act are participating and monitoring developments in this work.
The Code of Practice aims to help providers of generative AI systems effectively meet their transparency obligations. It will support the marking of AI-generated content, including synthetic audio, images, video and text, in machine-readable formats to enable detection. The Code will also assist deployers using deepfakes or AI-generated content in clearly disclosing AI involvement, particularly when informing the public on matters of public interest.
In addition to these measures, the AI Act also places obligations on the providers of General Purpose AI models to provide summary details of the data used to train their models.
My Department, which is leading the national implementation of EU AI Act, has been actively progressing Ireland's preparations for he full implementation of the AI Act. Government decisions in March and July 2025 approved the adoption of a distributed model of regulation for the AI Act in Ireland, leveraging existing framework of regulatory bodies in Ireland. To date, thirteen public bodies have been designated as market surveillance authorities (MSA) and four as notifying authorities (NA), with some of those public bodies having a dual role as both an MSA and an NA.
While the EU Regulation has direct legal effect in EU Member States, domestic legislation is required to establish a suitable supervision and enforcement regime that enables competent authorities regulate AI at a national level. In January 2026, Government approved priority drafting of the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill, on the basis of the General Scheme prepared by my Department. The General Scheme proposes to establish a new statutory independent body – the AI Office of Ireland - under the remit of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, to act as the Single Point of Contact and central coordinating authority for the implementation and enforcement of the EU AI Act in the State. The General Scheme also provides for the empowerment of Competent Authorities as approved by the aforementioned Government decisions, and lays out rules on penalties for infringement of the Act.
I am pleased to share that my Department is actively engaging with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on the drafting of this important piece of legislation. The Bill is proceeding through the pre-legislative scrutiny process in the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment.
Finally, I want to assure the Deputy that the Government recognises the importance of transparency measures in combating disinformation, protecting intellectual property rights, and maintaining public trust in AI and in wider digital media and is committed to ensuring effective and timely implementation of the AI Act to ensure our citizens remain informed and protected from harmful AI contents.
