Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 21 October 2025

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence and the State: Discussion

2:00 am

Photo of Malcolm ByrneMalcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the witnesses. It now falls to me to put some questions. I agree with colleagues' comments around the role of children and young people in the process. Certainly, when the Office of the Ombudsman for Children was being set up and, indeed, when we set up Coimisiún na Meán, in each case there were youth advisory panels. From talking to the Minister, my understanding is that we will have a youth advisory panel as part of the AI office. It is certainly something we will expect.

To come back to the area of AI education and literacy, by its nature, legislation in this space is always quite complex. One of the areas of success for the GDPR was that, ultimately, it was very simple. People came to realise that they could only use the data someone gave them for the express purpose for which he or she had given it to them. There are obligations under the AI Act, whether it relates to State organisations, private individuals or companies, to inform users, citizens and consumers that AI is being used and to advise them of their rights in this space. While it is important that we embed those considerations within the thinking of the public service and within wider society when we are deploying AI, I am looking at it from the other perspective of how I would know as a citizen or a consumer that my human rights were being respected? In other words, when the AI Act is being deployed, as an ordinary citizen what should I expect to be informed about?