Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

That is a brilliant question. I spoke earlier in the Seanad and Senator Conor Murphy raised the issue of AI. I made the point earlier that sometimes when we are thinking about how we do very well with AI, there is a tendency to think about it in terms of the number of data centres. However, I do not believe that is the case. There is a lot of economic research that says it is the dispersion and use of AI in an economy that is actually where the economy gets the productivity benefit and begins to grow. Data centres are hugely important for other reasons but the impact of AI on growth will depend on how we use AI. There is a Civil Service initiative under way at the moment regarding how we can use AI and do so in a safe way. Some agencies of the State are already ahead of that. I think the Deputy was here for the exchange we had on the Estimates and I picked Revenue as an example of it. Revenue is well ahead of the curve on this. I am not yet at the point in the Department of Finance where I have an AI agent available to me on my computer but I should be. All of us should be. The question we all have to think about regarding the impact of AI on the economy is how we use it. I will go back to the rhetorical question I used earlier in the Seanad. How many AI apps does everyone here have on their phones? That is the question that matters. The Deputy put a great question to me. Some agencies of the State are doing it well.