Mr. Kieran McCorry:

I thank the Deputy for mentioning the Dublin Tech Summit. I actually need to depart this meeting at 11.30 a.m. because I am speaking at the summit at 12.10 p.m., and Dr. Rubel is speaking at it this afternoon. The Deputy has highlighted a really important issue. We are seeing - almost bizarrely - that the adoption of generative AI in the public sector is happening at an impressive enough rate compared to what we have seen with other technologies in the past. There certainly is a job of work to be done there to make sure the State does enough to support businesses of all shapes and sizes.

In my opening statement I referred to the adoption of generative AI in multinational companies and it is considerably higher than the adoption in indigenous industries. This is really because of the capabilities and the resources that companies such as ours are able to provide. There is an opportunity for the State to do more to support those businesses. It also relates back to the skills issue as well. There is an awareness that needs to be driven, so that businesses are clear on the extent of what generative AI can do for their businesses of all shapes and sizes. Communications is part of this alongside other skills but this really will be relevant for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Just last week I was on Inishbofin working with small businesses to talk about how generative AI could help them improve their businesses. It was a welcome exercise for all involved. We are not even talking about very sophisticated or very expensive technology here. Even some of the free tools that are available already have the capability to make a substantial difference to businesses. Their problem was that they were not aware of this and they were not aware of what they could do. There is both a skills and communications requirement.