Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I thank the witnesses. I will put four quick questions to them.

I will follow up with Mr. Blanchfield. Regarding the introduction of a regulatory sandbox - he will be aware it is being considered here - how can we introduce one in Ireland that will benefit SMEs? How can it be done so we allow innovation? If Mr. Blanchfield were to design the regulatory sandbox, how might it look? Turning to Dr. Scanlon and moving to the issue of energy use and data centres, I am very conscious the advisory council, for example, suggested at one stage that we may need to consider nuclear-powered data centres, etc. Regarding the move to renewable energies, how urgent is it to be able to power that infrastructure? More generally then, I throw out the concept of the AI observatory. I agree with the suggestion of Ireland hosting a CERN-type organisation for AI. I refer to how it might look. To pose another general question as my final query, as an Oireachtas committee we are here to advise the Government and the State. If any of the witnesses have any abiding point they wish to make, such as concerning what the State should do to prepare us for artificial intelligence, I ask them to do so. I will let the other witnesses think about those other questions while I ask Mr. Blanchfield about the regulatory sandbox.