Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Senator Byrne is right when he says it is clear that we need to remain watchful on the regulatory front. The Government is committed to regulation that addresses the issues technology has posed in a coherent way and takes the interests of users and providers into account for a balanced result. Yesterday we published our national digital strategy. We have committed to a digitalisation fund of €75 million to help enterprises. Some enterprises are not even digitally literate at the moment. There is a way to go to bring them to the standard they need to reach in the current market. There are also other enterprises which are much further advanced. It is important that we take guidance and work with those enterprises to ensure that our regulation is responsive to their needs and protects the users. In that context, as part of our artificial intelligence strategy, we have committed to establishing a digital enterprise forum which will bring leaders in that field together on a quarterly basis to advise the Government on the policy required to support job creation in this area. I welcome any suggestions Members may have in that area. It is an area that offers significant opportunities and we must seize those opportunities, and work collectively to ensure we do so.