David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I apologise for being late. I was in the Dáil Chamber speaking on road safety, which I understand AI can also play a part in by looking at traffic flows and so forth. I thank our guests for coming in, for their presentations and for the work they are doing. This has been described as the fourth industrial revolution. It is moving so fast, which is an issue with which I intend grappling. So much is going on.

I was at Google headquarters yesterday for the launch of the generative AI in Ireland economic opportunities study, which was fascinating. As part of the presentation, it was noted that similar to other northern European countries, Ireland lags behind globally on AI innovation drivers, such as talent, research, development and commercialisation. The gap suggests that Ireland is at risk of losing its front-runner position and needs to focus on strengthening its strategic efforts on AI and AI-related innovation drivers. We cannot afford to fall behind at all because every other jurisdiction is moving so quickly. The whole area is moving quickly.

We spoke last week about universal translators, which are amazing. You can talk to someone in your language and they hear you in their language. It is like something from "Star Trek". We have gone beyond "Star Trek" in some of the stuff that is going on. Science fiction has become science fact. I would like to hear our guests' thoughts on innovation and innovation drivers, and what we need to do to ensure we do not lag behind.