Results 261-280 of 10,922 for speaker:Niamh Smyth

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I thank my colleagues for being here today for the first session of the week. I appreciate them all being here. I compliment the Chair on the state-of-the-nation hearings he has done so far. I have listened to bits and pieces of some of them, but I admire the approach the committee has taken on the three modular pieces regarding AI. It is really critical because it goes to the heart of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: The Digital Services Act is one of those opportunities for Ireland in terms of the protection of our citizens online. The Senator is specifically asking about the business piece. I will come back to her on that. I might get one of my officials to answer her specifically on that, if that is all right?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: As we have seen in recent days, the Central Bank has had an interesting couple of weeks with its own sandbox and how it is extrapolating fintech in terms of its development as a piece of technology that helps our online banking and protects our citizens along the way. Our own sandbox is intended to provide certainty for start-up companies. The sandbox will be devised as an entity to give...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: The EU Presidency will provide a wonderful platform to every Department, but particularly to this one, to demonstrate that Ireland takes a rules-based approach and that it is not the wild west when it comes to AI any more than it was for the social media companies. The Senator raised competitiveness. The Minister, Deputy Burke, and I are working on including AI and the sandbox in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: There is a great opportunity. We saw President Macron did exactly that during the AI summit. I think all member states looked at that and thought it would be wonderful to do. I think that as well. It is really important that we work in collaboration with tech companies. They want to work with us in a collaborative way to ensure they are working within the rules-based and risk-based...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I will just put a caveat on that. I may not have all the answers, but I will attempt to give all the answers. For anything I cannot answer, with the assistance of my officials, I will come back to members, as I will to the Senator on his first question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: It is a challenge. Having engaged quite a bit with my officials at this point, Ireland is probably ahead of the other 26 member states, in having everything in place to enact the legislation and to ensure that we have the enforcement element ready to do the policing of AI across the board. This is not to say that it is not challenging; of course it is. I know that the officials in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: Overall for AI, I am very excited by the opportunity for the highly-skilled jobs that it can provide. Ireland has had a strong academia-led approach to developing AI talent. Over the past five years, Research Ireland has committed to spending of nearly €200 million on AI research. The majority of this funding goes to centres for research and training. There is huge investment in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: If the Senator were to ask my officials, the first answer he would get is that we are not sufficiently resourced. We would always like to have more money, but the budget is coming and I will certainly be making the case for resourcing a new national AI office to the Minsters, Deputies Chambers and Donohoe, and that the Department should be ready for that. Are we prepared at a granular...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: It will always be necessary to increase it. The figure I have is that, under Ireland's national recovery and resilience plan, €85 million has been made available to accelerate the digitisation of enterprise with funding being made available under the digital transition fund, which the Senator also alluded to. The European digital innovation hubs are designated as the go-to one-stop...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I am glad the Senator asked that question. As it has been explained to me, it is an entity and will be a place companies can go, especially start-ups, and work on innovation and get the expertise and advice that can guide them on the regulations. It will also allow them to work on their technology. If they have an app or business idea for AI, it will be somewhere that all the expertise is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: If there is a specific answer, I will get it for the Senator. My understanding is that the Central Bank has one because it has to devise and develop a different type of technology. Within enterprise, the sandbox will be geared towards how start-up businesses are developed in the AI world and field. Will there be more? I will try to get clarity for the Senator on that matter.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: My understanding is that we will have one main sandbox, which will be supported by the competent authorities and fundamental rights authorities and everything will feed into it so there will be one central place people can go to about the development of their technology.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: There will be one and that will come under the Department of enterprise, but as I said, I do not think it is envisaged that it will only focus on enterprise and trade. Arguably, it would be well suited to the Department of the Taoiseach or a Department that is more broadly placed than the Department of enterprise. However, that is where it is at the moment. This Department is developing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: The Government has made a clear decision that it will be in the Department of enterprise. That is the Department that has been authorised and charged with the establishment of the sandbox and the national AI office. We are also taking on the work of the observatory piece. At the moment it is in the Department of enterprise, to answer the Deputy's question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: I do not think so. There are no plans for it to move at the moment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: That is the plan at the moment, but, as I said, my view is that perhaps we could look at moving it to a broader Department such as the Department of the Taoiseach in the future. However, as of today, the plan is for the sandbox, the AI office and the observatory to all be established from the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jul 2025)

Niamh Smyth: There is constant engagement. The negotiation of the AI Act took place over a two-year period and ended with the adoption of the AI Act in March 2024. Ireland played an active and constructive role in the development of the AI Act to ensure its alignment with the Government's commitment to human rights and ethical considerations. The Department represents Ireland on the EU artificial...