Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 April 2026
461. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the reason AI platforms are blocked on Government systems; and if he has examined designing a specific AI platform specific for the Civil Service to use. [30407/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department promotes the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) I in line with the EU AI act, my Department’s Guidelines for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Public Service and the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) Cyber Security Guidance on Generative AI for Public Sector Bodies. My Department also promotes a risk based assessment with a decision making framework should be used to evaluate if AI is the most appropriate solution to meet the use case needs. In addition, where it is considered appropriate to use AI, my Department recommends that a responsible approach to implementation of AI is taken in line with the seven principles set out in my Department’s guidelines for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence.
Chapter 8 of these Guidelines provides detailed guidance for End-Users of GenAI, in line with the guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre’s Guidance on Generative AI for Public Sector Bodies.
The Guidelines recommend that more general access to such tools by staff should not be permitted until Departments have conducted the relevant business assessments, have appropriate usage policies in place and have implemented staff awareness programmes on safe and appropriate usage of these tools.
Free GenAI tools are very accessible but because they lack suitable management and oversight pose significant risks for use in the Irish Public Sector. Any information given to a public GenAI tool could be used in training the model. Thus, we advise against their use in the public service.
This is recommended as while AI has the capacity to transform public services, it is essential that the data underpinning AI is of high quality, as low-quality data cannot be relied upon for its veracity. In effect, to get accurate results from data, high-quality data is required.
Whilst designing an AI platform specific for the Civil Service to use is not currently being examined for a number of reasons, including current rapid technology evolution and change, the recently published National Digital and AI Strategy ‘Digital Ireland’ sets out our ambitious programme in the Artificial Intelligence space.
