Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 July 2026
149. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to provide an update on the roll out of aiready.ie; and his plans for future development. [49862/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraAIready.ie was developed through my Department in partnership with the National Skills Council and SOLAS. Part of the National Skills Council’s advice to Government last year was a recommendation to create such a resource to unlock the potential of AI-driven innovation.
Phase one of the initiative went live in March and features four free, non-technical short online courses on the fundamentals of AI. The courses are flexible, mobile-friendly, and designed for busy lives. By focusing on practical, everyday tasks, the aim is for Artificial Intelligence to be a helpful companion for everyone, rather than a challenge to be feared.
The platform seeks to support lifelong learning and workforce transitions by providing accessible upskilling and reskilling opportunities for three distinct user profiles.
We are gathering data regarding how users interact with the platform, such as registrations, course completions and the most popular courses. This is helping to shape the development of phase two of the platform, which is intended to be developed this year. Phase two and subsequent phases will allow for increased user profiles, progression pathways and more specialised skills targeting.
In this way, my ambition of helping to upskill one million learners will progress, and our skills system will play a key role in achieving national economic objectives.
