Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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6. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the means by which the transition of the new AI office to a fully independent statutory body will be managed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62287/25]

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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I thank Members for facilitating me. Will the Minister outline the means by which the transition of the new AI office to a fully-independent statutory body will be managed? Will he provide some details in that regard, please?

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. The establishment of the AI office of Ireland is a strategic initiative of this Government. I am delighted to have secured start-up funding of €1.4 million as part of budget 2026 for the office's establishment. The AI office will act as a central co-ordinating body for the implementation of the AI Act in Ireland and will also provide a focal point for the promotion and adoption of transparent and safe AI in Ireland to ensure that we fully capture the strategic opportunity that AI presents.

My officials, in collaboration with Departments across a range of sectors, are developing the general scheme of the regulation of artificial intelligence. This will provide the implementation and enforcement of the AI Act at national level in domestic legislation, including: the establishment of a new national AI office as an independent statutory entity which will act as the central co-ordinating authority for the Act; the empowerment of designated competent authorities with market surveillance regulation powers in accordance with the AI Act; provisions for co-operation among and the sharing of information across the national competent authorities; and the laying down of rules for penalties and other enforcement measures for non-compliance.

It is my intention to bring the general scheme to the Government over the coming weeks. There are provisions within it which will ensure that the transition from interim arrangements to a permanent statutory structure will be legally and operationally seamless. The general scheme will provide powers to decide on the date on which this will happen post the enactment of the legislation.

The distributed model agreed by the Government means that existing sectoral regulators will supervise and enforce the AI Act, supported centrally by the new AI office of Ireland. The national AI Act implementation committee, which chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy Niamh Smyth, which has responsibility for AI and on which officials from my Department sit, was established in February. In the intervening period, the committee has brought the designated market surveillance authorities, MSAs, together to work on agreeing an approach to prepare for the new enforcement role. Since they were designated in July, additional MSAs have joined the committee.

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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It is helpful to hear how much effort is going into the establishment of this office. I held two leadership roles in a State agency that is arguably the most independent. The national human rights institution in any jurisdiction is informed by the Paris Principles. We have to understand how that independence is going to be guaranteed in this instance. If the body originates from within the Department of enterprise, then I have concerns that conflicts exist which may create fundamental issues on the foundation of the organisation that will carry on into its future. It would be really helpful if the Department were to look at the Paris Principles and identify how we can ensure independence.

Across the State agency sector, which is where many competent bodies sit, we have varying levels of independence, of powers of reporting and so on. All of these regulatory functions are challenged by a lack of independence and inconsistency across those bodies. AI and what it is going to do to our society are such fundamental issues that we have to get this right from the outset. Rather than focus on speed, I want to ensure that we look for quality at the foundational level.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy makes valid points on this. The Government has not made a decision yet. We are going through a lot of the issues and seeking advice on them. Hopefully, in the coming months, we will be able to go to Government with a memorandum on the final structure. Enforcement and independence are key. It is important we have public trust in artificial intelligence. Some of the areas the Deputy referenced will be looked at in detail. I also note the distributive model we have taken. For example, we have the Health Products Regulatory Authority looking after drugs and products like that, and the Irish Aviation Authority looking after aviation. That model will stand to us because it really goes to the expertise that has been built up in the State and people know the areas they have been regulating in the past.

The AI office will draw all of that together and will look at areas where we can enhance AI and areas where we can work in a safe manner. Obviously, we have our regulatory sandbox as well, which will be brought up. That will provide a key opportunity as will some of the tertiary partnerships. It is an exciting space but the Deputy is right that we do have to be careful and ensure our independence and public trust which is key in the opportunities that will be there in the future.

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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I am glad the Minister raised public trust because I feel there is this kind of pushback against regulation in terms of losing our competitiveness, missing opportunities and America and China racing ahead with their AI development. The issue I have is that their development will lead to products built in a regulatory environment that will not have public trust. We must look at that regulatory space and make sure that even the requirements Europe is putting forward to us meet the standards we want here. We have heard from colleagues already this morning that they feel we should be best in class. Sometimes I hear from Government spokespeople that we are best in class. I do not believe that is the case. For example, I do not believe the Data Protection Commission, DPC, has proven its worth in the past number of years. Even though it has the powers, it has not enforced them.

Similarly, if we do not get it right from the outset with the AI office - and we already see online all the ways in which AI can go wrong, for example, the slot which is currently generated - it will be mean people will not use AI or trust it. It will a fundamentally undermine our democracy and society. It is important we get it right from the outset. I encourage the Minister to look at the Paris Principles.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Absolutely. We will consider them as part of our deliberative process. The enterprise committee will be key in our approach. The private sector has done a lot of good things with AI. Insight is the largest research centre in Europe. It is based in Trinity College and shows us how we can commercialise research based in tertiary education.

We do have a lot to do from a public service point of view and in Departments. That is where a huge amount of Government work needs to be carried out. Public trust is important because general purpose technology comes with so many challenges as well as opportunities. We have to ensure we are managing those challenges and maintaining public trust. That is why it is very important - and I do not say this lightly in terms of that distributive model - we have the expertise built in in those key areas that have public trust. Many of them, in terms of the areas they manage, have a very strong track record. I am happy to work with the Deputy on the areas she referenced. This is a collective approach. There are huge opportunities but there are risks and we should be open to that risk and manage it appropriately to ensure we are building public trust as well.