Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I thank the witnesses for their testimony and for their work more generally. We are here to serve citizens.

How can we use not just AI but other technologies to deliver services more effectively? I am conscious that when we, as public representatives, deal with people, we help to guide them through bureaucracies. When groups representing older people and those with disabilities were before this committee, they raised the number of means tests and complicated forms there are in this State, which Mr. Lowry also outlined. It should be fairly simple. The State knows who I am. It has my PPSN and date of birth. I have given the State those data and trusted it to be able to manage those responsibly. When can we in Ireland, by using AI and other technologies, achieve the delivery of State services to the same level as, say, Estonia so that I, as a citizen, will know it is pretty simple and at the press of button to access health records, grant applications to the Department of agriculture, Revenue entitlements and tax obligations? When are we going to get to that stage and what role will AI play in it?