Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

As we have seen in recent days, the Central Bank has had an interesting couple of weeks with its own sandbox and how it is extrapolating fintech in terms of its development as a piece of technology that helps our online banking and protects our citizens along the way.

Our own sandbox is intended to provide certainty for start-up companies. The sandbox will be devised as an entity to give those start-up companies an opportunity to extrapolate their own creativity. It will give them assurances in relation to compliance and regulatory requirements. Given the substantial preparatory work required by our regulators within the scope of the AI Act to fulfil their responsibilities, we are adapting a phased approach to the sandbox implementation. To meet out EU AI Act deadline of August 2026, we will initially establish a regulatory sandbox focused on regulatory guidance. The big question for everybody relates to regulatory guidance. It will be hosted by a new central co-ordinating AI office, and will primarily provide legal guidance for businesses seeking AI Act compliance. The feedback I have received from engaging with business is that it is important to have that certainty and a one-stop shop to which they can go to know they are working within the law. That is certainly the intention of the sandbox itself.

Once the AI Act is fully embraced with a regulatory system, sufficient expertise is in place and it has been developed across all relative regulators, we will expand the programme's scope to incorporate a testing environment that supports AI systems and evaluation. The sandbox will be devised to give certainty regarding regulation in the creation of new technology in order that they know that they are acting in accordance with the law.

CeADAR, established by this Department through EU funding, is an exemplar to which I can point where companies can engage in terms of developing their technology. It allows AI start-up companies to develop their technology and opens doors for them too in terms of where they can get their technology into across Ireland. It also provides certainty for AI companies in order that they are working within the confines of the law. We hope to have the sandbox up and running by August 2026.