I am pleased to be here today to respond to the First Interim Report of the Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence. I thank the Minister of State for being here. I thank the Cathaoirleach, Deputy Malcolm Byrne, and all the members of the committee and the secretariat and the witnesses who helped to shape and inform and prepare the report. It is a significant milestone. It represents a cross-party collaborative effort to understand not only the technicalities of AI, but its real-world impact on the people of Ireland, from our youngest citizens to our oldest and across every community, including those who are too often left out of the conversation. I welcome this report and commend its findings. It is a cross-party collaborative effort. In my comments, I will focus on three pillars that, I believe, are the foundation of a successful national AI strategy: governance, regulation and meaningful engagement. First, on governance, the report correctly identifies that the status quo is not an option. AI does not respect departmental silos and it cannot be managed by a piecemeal approach. The recommendation to establish the joint committee on a permanent basis is a wise one. This technology will be with us for decades and it demands sustained, dedicated oversight. I particularly welcome the call for an immediate co-ordinated all-of-Government approach led by a well-resourced national AI office. The committee has wisely stressed that this office must not be just another Government body. To be effective, it must have true independence and the technical expertise to navigate the complex conflicts that will inevitably arise between supporting industry, deploying AI in our own public services and enforcing robust regulations. I welcome the Minister of State's commitment in relation to the two observatories - the national skills observatory and the observatory for business AI readiness, OBAIR. I would be interested to hear more detail in relation to them and the division of labour. It is important that there is an analysis in terms of the impact of AI on jobs and on labour. There should be a particular focus on the impact of AI on youth unemployment, which is increasing at three times the rate of that in the general population. There is important work to be done there. The recommendation for a national AI risk register is a practical and necessary tool. We cannot mitigate risks we have not identified. We must know where the systemic dangers lie in our infrastructure, our labour market, as I say, and our social fabric before we can protect against them. We must support our regulators. The nine authorities tasked with safeguarding our fundamental rights under the EU AI Act cannot do this important work on a shoestring budget. If we ask them to protect citizens from AI-driven discrimination or harm, we must give them the human and financial resources to do so. Second, on regulation, the report sends a strong and welcome signal regarding the EU AI Act. The committee states unequivocally that Ireland must not shy away from the Act or try to dilute it. We should treat it as a minimum baseline, not a maximum standard. That is crucial. I share the concerns that Deputy Gibney raised. It is an issue we discussed at the committee after this report. The omnibus and the simplification agenda are important. I hear the arguments from the Government. It is that piece around striking the balance. We have to navigate it very careful. There will always be commercial pressure to put innovation before protection but this report recognises the wisdom we learned from GDPR. Good regulation does not stifle innovation. It frames it. It provides the guardrails that allow businesses to innovate safely and give citizens the confidence to trust and adopt new technologies. The emphasis on applying existing laws, such as GDPR and copyright law, to AI is also vital. We do not need to reinvent the wheel here. The right to access our data, the right to rectification and the right to erasure must apply whether a decision is made by a human or an algorithm, and I strongly agree that creators must be protected. Creator content should not be used to train commercial AI models without their consent and fair compensation. I am concerned, as the committee is, about the role of AI-driven recommender systems in pushing harmful and hateful content and I note the Minister of State's comments. The recommendation that these systems be switched off by default, especially for children, is a commonsense child-centred approach and I fully endorse it. We cannot allow profit-driven algorithms to undermine the mental health and safety of our young people. I commend the committee for placing engagement and inclusion at the heart of its work. In this block of work, we heard from a range of voices in relation to participation and the need for engagement. AI is not a force of nature. It is a tool. We have the power to shape it, but we can only shape it well if we listen to those who will be most affected by it. The report's call for a citizens' assembly on artificial intelligence and digitalisation is an important one. We need a national conversation. We need to move beyond the echo chambers of experts and bring this discussion into every living room in Ireland. The structured engagement with young people, older people and disabled people, not as an afterthought but as a core part of the committee's initial inquiry, set a powerful example in relation to this. Their testimony, detailed so clearly in this report, exposes the real world biases and barriers that already exist. We heard how AI can perpetuate discrimination against the Traveller community, for example, how it can isolate older people and how it risks making inaccessible public services even more out of reach for people with disabilities, but we also heard about the potential AI that can assist with independent living, support inclusive education and break down communication barriers. The recommendations, therefore, for equality by design, for involving marginalised groups from the very start of product development and for establishing advisory panels of young people, older people and disabled people within the national AI office are not just about being fair; they are about being effective and inclusive. A system designed by and for everyone will work better for everyone. The report tells us that we need strong independent governance, robust regulation and genuine public engagement. I thank everyone who contributed to the report.

Sentiment score: 0.27