Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree. The problem is this has been established and they are not. ICTU's submission referred to requiring consultation with workers and unions before the introduction of AI but it is here and, by all accounts, there was no consultation. There is an element of a lot of people running along behind this.

That is not to say we will not catch up. Of course we will. Perhaps this has gone on under the radar.

I have another question that relates to workers and jobs. It is about understanding how AI and machine decision-making works. When we talk about transparency, that is important, but to be brutally frank, if the witnesses were to show me an algorithm, it would not mean anything to me. If they told me the algorithm was the reason I, as a Deliveroo rider, did not get any shifts last week and do not have any money to pay my rent, I would find that hard to understand. When we call for transparency, it is not just about publicising or publishing the algorithm. There has to be a deeper understanding for workers to be able to get to grips with it. How can we do that? The obvious one is that the unions are in from the very start and that any systems put in place are open and transparent, but bear in mind these algorithms are setting work for people at the moment. What can be done? We refer to transparency about how decisions are made. What does that mean, practically? Practically, how can we make sure workers who may not have a high level of education or English as their first language have some control over their work? I ask Professor O'Hare to address it first if he does not mind.