Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. Our Department is taking action on three fronts to increase the number of Irish businesses using big data, the cloud and AI. First, we are engaging with experts. I chair the newly refreshed enterprise digital advisory forum, which comprises industry and expert representatives and provides valuable advice and perspectives on how we can best help businesses to digitalise and adopt advanced digital tools, such as AI, data analytics and the cloud.

Second is access to funding and support. Funding for digitalisation is available through the €58 million digital transition fund. To date, almost 300 companies have been approved under this fund. Other digitalisation support, including advice, consultancy and grants, is available through local enterprise offices and the SME support package, which was launched last week. That package expanded eligibility for the trading online voucher to all sectors of up to 50 employees. We also expanded the eligible expenditure to €50,000.

I draw particular attention to CeADAR, Ireland's Centre for Applied AI, which was established by Government to act as the bridge between the worlds of applied research in AI and data and commercial deployment by business. CeADAR is playing a crucial role in helping businesses to adapt AI. We have also established four European digital innovation hubs to help businesses and SMEs, in particular, to adapt digital tools for their use. The hubs are one-stop shops, with research organisations at the core in turn providing access to technical expertise and facilities for experimentation, as well as innovation services and the training and skills development necessary for the successful digital transformation of each business.

We will launch a new digital portal, grow digital, shortly. It will help every business, small, medium and large, to self-assess their digital readiness. It will identify recommendations and supports to facilitate the next step towards their journey to digital transformation.

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