Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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300. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has taken advice in respect of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) within his Department in 2024 and to date in 2025; if any section of his Department currently makes use of artificial intelligence; if he will outline the purposes it is utilised for and costs associated with same; if he has consulted with any consultancy firms in respect of the use of AI; if he will provide a schedule of consultants engaged and costs of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6335/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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My Department led the development of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy - “AI – Here for Good”. As part of this Strategy, the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) play a key role in providing advice and guidance on the deployment of AI tools across the public sector including to my Department. Specifically, Stand 4 AI Serving the Public focuses on driving the use of A.I. across Government, which is overseen by the GovTech Delivery Board with supporting workstreams in relation to data (as a foundational enabler for the deployment of A.I.), security, ethical considerations and future skills.

The National AI Strategy and this cross-government engagement will continue to inform my Department's future approach in seeking to leverage A.I. in relation to the work and functions of the Department. When considering the use of new technologies, my Department assesses the risks and benefits of appropriate technologies, including A.I., on a case by case basis. When implementing these technologies, advice is sought from all appropriate sources. No consultancy firms have yet been consulted.

All staff in my Department have access to some Generative AI tools which they are permitted to use in certain circumstances. A policy document has been issued to all staff advising them of the risks and mitigation to consider when using these tools and this policy position is currently being updated based on the latest available advice. Artificial Intelligence is currently not being used for any other purpose in my Department although work is commencing to identify potential use cases for this technology to support the work of the Department.

One of my Department’s Offices, the Companies Registration Office (CRO), uses machine learning to scan digitised annual returns to check whether they are signed in the appropriate places. This technology has proven to be very effective in delivering processing efficiencies for the CRO. The CRO received over 240,000 Annual Returns in 2022, all of which were processed using this signature recognition facility. The cost of this project was €175,402. My Department and the CRO also collaborated on an artificial intelligence project to scan CRO annual returns and extract company financial data. Work on data analysis from this project and in planning the further scaling out of this project is currently ongoing. The cost of this project was €46,110.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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301. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will provide the totality of costs in respect of the Ireland’s National AI Strategy since its inception; if he will provide a breakdown of the external companies engaged in respect of the strategy and costs of same; and his plans to continue with the 2024 refresh of the plan. [6349/25]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The opportunities presented by Artificial Intelligence are unlike any from previous technological advances, due to the rapid pace of progress, and its potential for transformative impacts on our society and economy, for our collective good. AI presents opportunities for beneficial impacts in many sectors, including in the delivery of public services, healthcare, scientific discovery, sustainability, agriculture, transport, and mobility.

A Refresh of Ireland's National AI Strategy was published in November 2024 and contains various strategic actions. This refresh takes account of the significant developments in AI technology and regulation since the original Strategy was published in 2021. As AI is a rapidly evolving technology, my Department will continue to review and refresh the strategy on a periodic basis to reflect this.

It is an all Government Strategy, and costs of the initiatives are covered by various funding streams, for example the Public Sector Digital Transformation Fund, the National Broadband Plan, the ICT Skills Strategy and the Enterprise Digital Transition Fund. Examples of some of the funding allocated to enterprise digitalisation and AI adoption are set out below.

The Digital Transition Fund accounts for €58 million of the €85 million in funding under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) that is focused on Digital Transformation of Enterprise, and which is funded by the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The fund is administered by Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta through a range of schemes to boost uptake of digital technology. As of the end of 2024, 539 companies have been approved for funds to the value of €45.2 million. Of these, 195 companies have received payment to the value of €12.9 million.

Ireland’s four European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), CeADAR, FactoryxChange, ENTIRE, and DATA2SUSTAIN are part-funded by the RRF and the Digital Europe Programme. EDIHs support the digital transformation of enterprise, in particular SMEs, and public sector organisations either for free or at a reduced cost. The EDIHs act as “one stop shops” providing access to technical expertise and experimentation, financing advice, training and skills, and information on the innovation ecosystem and networking.

Participation in the EU network of hubs will also encourage the adoption of the latest advances in the three key digital technologies of Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence and High-Performance Computing. CeADAR is Ireland’s EDIH for AI, and specialises in enabling the uptake of AI and data analytics. The funding allocated to support this activity in 2025 is €4.22m.

Supports for digitalisation available through the Network of 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) include,

• The Digital for Business programme has an initial budget of €1.6m in 2025. It will target 500 interventions and is now a prerequisite of applying for the new Grow Digital Voucher, which is a follow-on support that can be used to leverage digital tools, boost efficiency, expand reach, and compete effectively, by streamlining operations.
• The Grow Digital Voucher has a budget of €3.6m, however some of this allocation will be used to meet outstanding approvals for Trading Online Vouchers.
• The LEO Digital for Business programme provides strategic intervention for businesses to work with third party consultants to assist them in identifying where they are on their digital business journey, develop a digital adaptation plan for the adoption of digital tools and techniques based on their identified needs, and implement their plan.