James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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250. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will outline the steps his Department is taking to improve data collection and database construction in anticipation of the increased data processing capacity that artificial intelligence adoption entails; if he will outline the logic behind their approach; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18368/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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My Department is guided by relevant legislation, policies and the National Cyber Security Centre in respect of all matters related to the use or operation of AI. All applications and platforms used or operated by my Department must be in line with relevant policies and be consistent with advice provided by the National Cyber Security Centre.

At present my Department has not adopted the use of any Artificial Intelligence systems to assist with the processing of applications or the data that it holds.

The EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, which recently entered into force on 01 August 2024 has direct effect in all Member States. Future central Government guidance supporting the implementation of the Act, policies and cross-government engagement will continue to inform the Department’s approach to the use of AI. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is the lead Department for Government policy in relation to AI and its National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, AI Here for Good (refreshed in November 2024), sets out the ambition for Ireland to be an international leader in using AI to benefit our economy and society, through a people-centered, ethical approach to its development, adoption and use.

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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251. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will identify any projects which the Department has underway with CeADAR, Ireland’s national centre for AI; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18385/25]

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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252. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will identify any projects which a body under the aegis of his Department has underway with CeADAR, Ireland’s national centre for AI; if he will send this question to the bodies for direct response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18403/25]

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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253. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will specify the specific policy areas where the Department is examining future use of AI; if he will identify what entities the Department is working with, public or private, in relation to this examination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18420/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 251, 252 and 253 together.

My Department does not have any projects underway with CeADAR. Regarding the bodies under the aegis of my Department, this would be an operational matter for the bodies themselves.

The policy areas where my Department is examining future use of AI, and the entities my Department is working with in this regard, are set out below.

• National Archives of Ireland.
• The National Archives of Ireland is currently examining the use of Robotic Automation for transcription of large data sets including the Census 1926 and are working with Deloitte and UiPath in this regard.
• European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (ALT-EDIC).
• My Department is examining the use of AI in enhancing language technologies, with a particular focus on the needs of lesser-used languages. In 2024, Ireland was a founding member of ALT-EDIC, which is a European Digital Infrastructure Consortium. Its aims are to address the shortage of data training in European languages and bring life to a European-wide technology centre to develop a common infrastructure in the field of natural language processing and large multi-language models (LLMs). My Department continues to be actively engaged in the development of ALT-EDIC, which now numbers 17 Member States and 8 observers.
• Ard-Intleacht (AI) na Gaeilge.
• My Department is also supporting Údarás na Gaeltachta in undertaking the Ard-Intleacht (AI) na Gaeilge initiative. The tool in development will be able to understand Irish and respond in clean, canonical Irish, over time, drawing on the State's extensive pool of Irish language content, including archive, audio and video recordings and will be able to work with any AI product on the market. The end result is expected to be a platform and tool that will support state agencies in offering high quality services in Irish to the public.

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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254. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will identify any AI training offered to people working in the Department; the level of take-up; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18437/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The 'Interim Guidelines for Use of AI in the Public Service' document was published in February 2024 by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Deliver and Reform. As outlined in the document, AI tools and technologies have the potential to transform the delivery of public services and specifically in training, general language models can be a valuable tool.

In 2024, one staff member from IT enrolled in a CPD Certificate in Foundations of AI.

In May 2024, 18 staff from my Department attended a Governance Forum Event that specifically addressed AI, as outlined in the table below:

A total of 22 staff attended training in 2024 and 2025, which was not AI-specific, but where elements of the training referred to AI.