Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I agree with all of that, and I will ask the Minister for communications to make the point Deputy Moynihan to ComReg. I can say, as a relatively young person that there is a place for technology, but sometimes you just want to be able to talk to a human being. There are some things that AI and other technologies cannot do yet at least. Emotional intelligence is quite important as well. Sometimes it can be a hell of a lot quicker to have a conversation with someone and sort it, rather than half a dozen messages to a chatbot. There is definitely a balance with regard to this. There is a direction of travel. We are living through a major time of evolution and some good will come from that. However, we need to not lose the essence of who we are and what public service means, in particularly, but also that businesses do not deprive themselves of customers who want to still be able to access services in a way that works for them. I look forward to the new refreshed national digital and AI strategy. I will also, as per Deputy Moynihan's suggestion, ask that ComReg take a look at this from a telecom providers point of view.

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