Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 February 2026
105. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to set out the policy in his Department regarding the use of artificial intelligence; whether AI is used or permitted in drawing up policy documents, speeches, answers to parliamentary questions, press releases or for other official documents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15623/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs part of the roll-out of my Department’s Internal AI Strategy in June 2025, access to Microsoft Co-pilot Chat was made available to all employees in the Department. The strategy is fully aligned with the ‘Guidelines for the Responsible use of Artificial Intelligence in the Public Service’ published by my Department last May.
Comprehensive training and guidance have been provided in tandem with the Internal AI Strategy, including online awareness sessions. These sessions covered a range of areas including guidance on AI use in the Department and governance and compliance requirements.
The Internal Strategy and accompanying guidelines set out that AI can be used for the purpose of initial background research in respect of relevant tasks but should not be used to generate material that will be included in Government activities including Memoranda for Government, responses to Parliamentary Questions, Ministerial Representations, Ministerial speeches, etc. In summary, all content produced by the Department is created by skilled staff, who may make responsible use of modern AI tools to support their work and where there is robust human oversight.
