I move: That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence entitled "First Interim Report", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 12th December, 2025. Tá áthas an domhan orm an chéad tuarascáil ón gComhchoiste Um Intleacht Shaorga a mholadh. Tá an teicneolaíocht iontach seo ag athrú ár sochaí agus is ceart go bhfuil an tír seo ag glacadh ról ceannaireachta sa díospóireacht domhanda seo. It is a great privilege to be able to introduce the first interim report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence. I am very grateful for the work of my fellow members. We have worked in a collegial and collaborative way to achieve this first report, which has 85 recommendations covering a range of issues. Our committee has chosen to work in a way whereby we looked at artificial intelligence because it is cross-cutting; it impacts on every Government Department and nearly every Government agency. We took a decision that we would operate in a module formula and address issues over time, looking at AI in healthcare, energy and education. We started, obviously, with a state of the nation address. We are very grateful to the Minister of State for her input right at the start. However, we decided to look at this topic through three very specific lenses, namely, AI and children and young people, AI and older people and AI and disability. I have to say, that has helped to inform a lot of the work we have done. For me, personally, of all the witnesses, and many great witnesses appeared before our committee, hearing the voices of young people who came through the National Youth Council of Ireland and the youth advisory panel of the Office of the Ombudsman for Children on their perceptions of AI and how it is transforming their lives was particularly interesting. It is certainly important that we continue to listen to those voices as this debate goes on. In terms of the overall approach, what we are striving to do, and it certainly chimes with Government policy, is support and encourage innovation, balancing that with regulation to support the responsible use of artificial intelligence and the protection of fundamental rights. It is very important that we send out that clear message that innovation and regulation are not mutually exclusive and, indeed, go hand in hand. I was very glad to see that last week, the Government published the national digital and AI strategy. Indeed, it is very positive for our committee that many of its recommendations and reflections found their way into the strategy or are echoed in a lot of the priorities that are presented. I will raise a number of issues contained within our report and suggestions to Government as to where we should be going in positioning Ireland because it should be as a leader in this space. Quite rightly, there is a recommendation within our report and within the strategy that we need an all-of-government approach to artificial intelligence. It is interesting that the Government's strategy states that this is going to be led from the Department of the Taoiseach. While it is not a specific recommendation of our report, certainly, the reflective view of all members of the committee is that because it covers more than just the Department of enterprise, consideration should be given to placing the office of the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, at the Department of the Taoiseach. Enterprise is a very important part of how AI is having an impact, but this is much broader and has major societal implications so that is certainly an issue that should be considered. Our report and the 85 recommendations place a very strong emphasis on transparency, accountability and public trust. It is critical, as with any technology that is rolled out, that trust is always maintained. That is particularly true in the roll-out of AI in the public services. Both our report and the Government strategy talk about the need for more debate in public around AI and new technology and the opportunities and challenges. Our report recommends that we should have a citizens' assembly on AI, digitalisation and technology. It is critical that we engage all sectors of society in discussions on the potential benefits but also the pitfalls of this new technology. The use of public information campaigns so that people can actually understand what is happening is very important. The Minister of State may remember that at one time there was a very famous advertisement with the line "I don't know what a tracker mortgage is". It may be a case of reviving it along the lines of "I don't know what an algorithm is" and having those public information campaigns so that everybody in society can take part in the active debate around new technology. We place a lot of emphasis in our report on skills and literacy when we are talking about AI adoption. Our report very clearly recommends that emphasis be placed on a co-ordinated education initiative operating right through the education and training systems, and a lot of emphasis on AI literacy. This applies in schools and workplaces right throughout the entire system. This is something that is reflected in the Government strategy, particularly in terms of upskilling. I commend our colleague, the Minister for further and higher education, Deputy James Lawless, who has been talking about rolling out microcredential courses across the State ranging from very simply what is AI to support for SMEs about how they can embed AI to deliver their services more effectively. Our committee was very strong on opening an AI skills observatory. This is something the Minister of State is very committed to. This is very important. We know that the labour market is being impacted in many ways. The Department of Finance published a report specifically on this last week. There will be job displacement and jobs will be lost but equally there will be huge opportunities with new jobs as a result of AI. It is critical for us as a state to have real time information to be able to prepare for those changes and that can then inform the upskilling and reskilling of all of our citizens and those who live here. I want to turn to the national AI office. When the Minister of State came before our committee, we had quite a lot of discussion on this. She has a very strong commitment to that and ensuring it gets up and running, which is welcome. Unfortunately, even though there is a very specific committee on artificial intelligence, the legislation has gone to the enterprise committee. I appreciate the reason the rules of the House say that has to happen but we make the point that the AI office is about more than just enterprise. On the imminent recruitment of the first chief executive, he or she will set the direction and how the role will operate. We need to see that role as a facilitative role. It cannot be a “Thou shalt not” regulator or an additional layer of bureaucracy on top of the system. It should be about ensuring how society is able to responsibly use AI to get better results. Technology is not a goal in itself; technology is the enabler for us to be able to achieve better goals for all of humanity and it is critical that it is humans who are going to be in the loop. We are very clear that as part of this office there needs to be the establishment of the youth advisory panel. The Minister of State will be aware that within other offices, the Ombudsman for Children's Office and Coimisiún na Meán, this has worked very effectively. We need to ensure young people's voices and those who work with young people are heard at the discussion table but again, we emphasise the importance of the voices of older people and those with disabilities and that they are recognised and heard within the discussion. I want to praise the Minister of State’s role in terms of the leadership that she provided on this. We have dealt a lot with the controversy involving Grok and she has been very clear-minded and focused in that area. When she came before us that on the first occasion prior to report, she set out a very ambitious programme. She clearly committed and owned that we were going to have an AI summit in Ireland in October focusing on Ireland playing a leading role in the kinds of skills that we all need in the world of AI. I want to commend her leadership role and our committee looks forward continuing to work with her on preparation for that during the EU Presidency. It is vitally important that Ireland continues to take that leadership role and therefore I welcome the fact that the Minister of State took part in the global AI summit in India. I had concerns that Ireland was not going to be represented. Even though there is a diverse range of views on our committee, we think Ireland should inform and lead that debate and the values that we place on human rights and those fundamental rights, keeping humans in the loop - Ireland's values - will inform the global discussion on AI. It was critical that the Minister of State attended that summit. I appreciate that the EU Presidency is the focus but in terms of Geneva hosting the summit next year, I hope there will be a very strong Irish presence and input into that. The committee’s report made 85 recommendations. I pay tribute to my colleagues that we have worked in a cross-party way because we are all learning. This is a new technology. The reason we chose to do interim reports, and we will come out with another one, is to reflect the views that we are hearing because if we waited a few years for this report, things will have moved on quickly. There is a firm recommendation that the committee, which was set up as a medium-term special purpose committee, would be put on a permanent footing because the issues in the debates that we are dealing with and that we are facing is not just Grok. It is about what is happening in the employment market; the opportunities that are happening in healthcare; and the implications of AI energy use. All of those issues are going to continue to grow and it is critical that in the national Parliament we have a vehicle where they can be debated and views can be exchanged and that we can learn. I mentioned the awareness campaign and the general public. We need to look at doing it in here internally then within Leinster House as well so that people become very much aware of the transformational powers, positive and negative, of AI. We are using AI products, and rightly, already within Leinster House. Increasingly we know our constituents, businesses and organisations are raising issues relating to AI with us. A training programme in here for legislators, in the same way as it is intended to roll out training right across add the public service, is something that is important. Again, I thank the secretariat and my fellow members of the committee for all their work and for their input. We want to continue to work with the Minister of State and across all of the government in a collaborative way to ensure Ireland plays a leading role in the global debate around artificial intelligence to ensure that our citizens are equipped to be able to avail of the opportunities and to make sure that the necessary safeguards are in place to protect our fundamental rights.

Sentiment score: 0.33

This has been a very informative debate. It reflects the nature of how our committee has worked. If we think about our role as legislators, our responsibility is towards the safety of our citizens and those who live here. It is about equipping people to be able to deal with the challenges that we face in our lives and in our workplaces. It is about supporting innovation and creating an environment where jobs and wealth can be created. It is about ensuring that we deliver public services in as effective and efficient a way as possible, that it is targeted at those who need supports, and that it allows for us to have a better society in which to live. Artificial intelligence cuts across all of those. It is the most transformative technology. As the Minister of State and colleagues have said, it is about getting that balance right between regulation and innovation. Deputy Geoghegan spoke about Ireland being a mature democracy. I often reflect on this. When we come into this Chamber on some of the big set-piece days there is a lot of theatre that goes on. The media become obsessed about the disagreements and the arguments. I have to say that I have learned so much at this committee. I felt we worked in a really collaborative way. People took off their party hats. I learned from colleagues as well and I thank James, Darren and Sinéad, and all the members of the committee for their views. There were disagreements on issues. I found that our views have changed. Sometimes we might not necessarily get the answers, but we suddenly start to think of the questions that we need to ask. In a mature democracy, it is critical that parliamentary committees operate in that way. The outcome of that, because we were able to work together, is we have come up with those 85 recommendations. They chime with a lot of what has gone into the strategy. As we move through other modules, I look forward to be able to further impact on Government policy. We are continuing to deal with AI in the State. We will be moving on soon to explore issues like AI and justice, AI and the creative industries, which I know the Minister of State is very passionate about, AI and energy and AI and education. We are learning from people right across these Houses, and from civic society organisations, business, and academic experts. We are very keen to hear their views. People can email ai@oireachtas.ie. That is an open call for e-mails. We should not underestimate the scale of the changes that are happening. Every new technology is often overhyped in the short term, but it tends to be underestimated in the medium to long term. AI is having a profound impact. I am really grateful to colleagues. We are committed to continuing to work together to explore all of those issues and to working closely with the Minister of State and the Government to deliver the best for our citizens and those who reside here. Our committee has an awful lot more work to do. We have requested that it be put on a permanent footing. I am sure the Minister of State will support us in that regard. Debates like this are critical, but it is important that the debate is not just within this House. We need more debates in the media, business organisations, trades unions and civic society about how we deal with the threats and the challenges, but also about how Ireland can position itself to ensure that we benefit from the potential of this truly transformative technology.

Sentiment score: 0.18