Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)

We have received apologies from Senator Lynn Ruane. Colleagues will be joining us because other committees are going on at the same time.

There are the usual terms and conditions with regard to the committee, which members will be familiar with. For members who are here, there are constitutional requirements to be within the Leinster House complex. I am quite certain that our representatives know some of the rules with regards to privilege within the chamber.

Our role is to explore the issue and how it impacts on a wide variety of areas of society - indeed, it impacts on every area - and to offer recommendations to Government and the State on our approach and how we should interact with the private sector.

We are operating in modular format and currently considering the issues of AI and the State. Today's session is particularly important where we look at AI and democracy and truth.

We are very fortunate to have a number of very experienced and insightful witnesses before us I welcome from An Coimisiún Toghcháin Mr. Art O’Leary, chief executive, and Mr. Nick Callan, assistant principal for electoral integrity; Mr. Jeremy Godfrey, executive chair, and Ms Anne-Marie Pollock, director of policy for democracy and fundamental rights from Coimisiún na Meán; Professor Muiris MacCarthaigh, director of the centre for public policy and administration, and Dr. Deepak Padmanabhan, senior lecturer in computer science at the school of electronics, electrical engineering and computer science at Queen's University Belfast; and Dr. Dan McQuillan from Goldsmiths in London. I thank all our witnesses for their time today. We are going to invite them now to make opening statements, which are to be four minutes, and we will then go to questions and answers from each member of the committee. I invite Mr. O'Leary on behalf of An Coimisiún Toghcháin to please deliver his opening statement.