Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 February 2025
12. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment for the up-to-date position on the implementation of the new AI strategy; whether this new AI strategy will reflect the fast moving pace of AI technology; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6757/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAr an gcéad dul síos, déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire Stáit. Many congratulations to the Minister of State on her appointment. I am delighted for her and wish her every success with the new role. AI is very much part of the present and future and the programme for Government commits to upgrading the national digital strategy to take into account the situation around AI and its possible future uses. Can the Minister of State give an outline of the up-to-date situation concerning the development of the strategy for dealing with artificial intelligence?
I thank Deputy Moynihan for the question and for his very kind comments. A refresh of Ireland's national AI strategy was published in November 2024. It takes account of the significant developments in AI technology and regulation that have happened since the 2021 strategy. The national AI strategy sets out a whole-of-government approach to putting the necessary enablers in place to underpin AI adoption in enterprise and public services, including a supportive innovation ecosystem, a secure data and connectivity infrastructure and policies to ensure the workforce is prepared for the impact of Al. My Department has a particular focus on delivering on the actions that relate to enterprise digitalisation and AI adoption, guardrails and building public trust. We are focused on driving AI adoption in small businesses with targeted supports through our agencies. Issues such as privacy, security and job displacement are just a few of the challenges that come with the increasing use of AI. It is crucial that we address these concerns proactively and work to ensure that AI is used for the betterment of society. That is why building public trust and putting the appropriate guardrails in place is a priority focus. I note in particular the aggressive timeline for implementation of the EU AI Act, which we are prioritising. We met the first deadlines on identifying national public authorities which supervise or enforce the respect of obligations under Union law protecting fundamental rights, including the right to non-discrimination in relation to certain high-risk uses of AI systems specified in the Act. As Al is a rapidly evolving technology, we will continue to review and refresh the strategy on a periodic basis.
I thank the Minister of State. Very often a whole swathe of concerns is expressed by people in the context of the debate around AI. These include from an ethical point of view, climate change concerns and a whole broad range. Equally, though, there is excitement regarding the opportunities existing here. One area I would like to focus on is ensuring another generation is empowered and in a position to know how to use artificial intelligence and make the best use of it. What level of engagement is there with the education system to empower people regarding the use of AI? Similarly, regarding businesses, very often there were previously trading online vouchers to encourage them to have an online presence. Will there be a similar situation to aid businesses to educate, train and empower their employees in the use of AI?
I again thank the Deputy for his interest in this area. We had a very good and robust debate last night on AI and its positives. We must always be cautious about the introduction of something like this technology. It is like the revolution of the Internet. We got that first and we were able to do it. This new technology, though, is going to be completely different because I think it is going to impact every aspect of our lives, from public transport to healthcare to education. Every walk of life will be impacted in some way. The Department itself is doing a great deal of work in terms of the schemes it is running. When I say that, I think about the CeADAR centre, which is out in UCD. It is a source of skills where a type of induction training can be provided to AI and apps to give people an insight into those areas. I am going to see if we could bring some of that into the Oireachtas to give our Members an opportunity to see how we could perhaps do a better job using AI in our constituency offices and things like that. There are many benefits to AI, but we are also conscious of the negatives to the technology. It is a balancing act, but the Department is doing everything it can to bring the population with it in terms of the introduction of AI.
The debate last night was very useful and a huge range of topics were discussed. One area I would like to focus on is the AI advisory council established last month with a view to providing independent expert advice to the Government. Can the Minister of State give an outline concerning the advisory council, how often its members have met and who they are meeting with? I ask this to get a flavour of their direction of travel. Are they, for example, meeting with education bodies to ensure that any advice and emphasis is also there from that perspective to empower a new generation?
I thank the Minister of State for the debate yesterday as well. Specifically, how many AI experts are employed in Government now? What efforts are being made in this regard on an all-island basis? We must very much have congruence between North and South in terms of regulation and how we go about maximising the potential of AI technology and where we are now.
We had an extensive conversation concerning the obvious dangers of AI but more so the positives, the innovation and productivity of the technology and its absolute necessity from an enterprise point of view. We also spoke about the fact that digital literacy is an issue. I agree with the last two speakers. It is very important that the advisory council is fit for purpose and the Government has in-house AI capacity. Beyond that, would the Minister of State also support having a special Oireachtas committee to deal with this issue? We must get to grips with AI and I am not sure we have all the capacity in this House necessary now. More needs to be done.
Would the Minister of State agree there is an extremely important role that can be played by local authorities and local enterprise offices, LEOs, in terms of accelerating the digital agenda? They have a relationship with their SMEs on the ground. I am conscious that many small SMEs do not have the requisite capacity and could benefit greatly from better engagement with local authorities and local enterprise offices.
Sin é. Glaoim ar an Aire Stáit.
I thank the Deputies for the broad range of those questions. The number of supplementary questions just goes to demonstrate the interest there is in AI and how it is going to revolutionise everything we do. The advisory council was raised by colleagues. It was established in January 2024. I had the pleasure of meeting its members and their leader, Dr. Patricia Scanlon, last week. All those council members are experts in their fields. Different industries are represented in the council, from legal to healthcare to technology to education and all of that. It is important to take a moment to thank those members of the advisory council for their work. It is completely voluntary and is to advise the Department and the Government. They are all experts in their fields. I thank them all very much.
Turning to the question about our LEOs, they could of course do a great deal in tapping into our SME business sector. All those working in those small and medium businesses are totally immersed in and committed to the job they are doing and generally do not have time or the capacity to focus on a new departure.
Our local authorities will work with LEOs along with the Department, which is currently giving lots of grants and vouchers for digital growth to try to support businesses to do that.
On the question about the committee, it is a very good idea to have a committee set up around this. Maybe it could be part of one of the other committees, but AI will be a very important issue in this Dáil term.
