131. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the way in which his Department is ensuring that small- and medium-sized enterprises can move from AI awareness initiatives into measurable productivity gains from AI adoption; the changes that are required on current schemes to ensure sufficient scale and design; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30424/26]

Sentiment score: 0.25

AI is no longer evolving year on year but rather month on month. Businesses are now encountering agentic and autonomous AI systems that can plan, act and execute workflows. While larger firms are moving more quickly, SME adoption is lower and more uneven. That risks embedding a two-speed economy. Will the Minister of State set out how current AI supports are being adapted and scaled to help SMEs to move beyond pilots and entry-level tools and into more measurable and productive approaches?

Sentiment score: -0.02

We already see evidence that many SMEs are stuck around entry-level AI adoption. Most businesses planning AI investments are expecting to spend under €10,000. That is typically on more basic content creation and basic marketing rather than on deeper, productive gains through workflow automation and supply chain optimisation, for example. At the same time, Ireland remains mid-table, just above average, in EU business AI adoption. That is behind countries like Denmark and Finland. How will existing schemes, through the likes of Enterprise Ireland, the LEOs and Údarás na Gaeltachta be redesigned or scaled up to support deeper AI integration in SMEs instead of fragmented, one-off or pilot schemes? How will the Department measure whether those interventions are actually delivering productivity gains at a company level?

Sentiment score: 0.27

I want to move the focus towards job protection. The real risk from AI is not so much AI itself as the poorly managed adoption of AI. Where we have seen agentic and autonomous systems, as I mentioned earlier, they must not just assist with the work but should carry out tasks and co-ordinate workflows. Where people are trained to supervise and validate the work alongside the AI, productivity can grow; where that training is absent, it looks like the AI will almost substitute for the person. Smaller businesses are expected to redesign roles, supervise autonomous systems and comply with the EU AI Act, and to do all that at speed. How are AI initiatives being accelerated beyond basic literary into practical job-protecting capabilities? How are these skill supports being used to help SMEs manage change without job displacement?

Sentiment score: 0.15