James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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281. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government 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. [18363/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has developed and published a data strategy. This will enable and support the wider digital transformation programme of the Department towards 2030. The strategy has five goals and a range of actions to support the better use and management of data.

The data strategy is available on my Department's website at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/data-strategy-foundations-sprint-2021-2024/.

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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283. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government 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. [18398/25]

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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282. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government 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. [18380/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 283 and 282 together.

My Department does not have any projects underway with CeADAR, Ireland’s national centre for AI.

Arrangements have been put in place by all bodies under the aegis of my Department to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. This provides a speedy, efficient and cost effective system to address queries directly to the relevant bodies.

These State Bodies may be contacted directly by e-mail by members of the Oireachtas at the email addresses set out in the table below.

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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284. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government 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. [18415/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has recently concluded a program of work with EY and Microsoft to assess if a Microsoft AI product, specifically Copilot for Power BI, could enhance the flexibility and capability of the Housing For All reporting service that is available through the Insights data platform. The outputs are still in evaluation internally and is not operational at present. If it is further developed and becomes operational at a later stage then it could potentially be used to inform Housing policy.

This scope of this work included testing key publicly available datasets in a secure test environment and involves a robust assessment of the results to identify any potential opportunities for the use of artificial intelligence tools. There is no decision on the use of AI beyond this initial testing and there was no associated financial cost to my Department.

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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285. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government 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. [18432/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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My Department recognises the growing importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in improving public services, enhancing productivity, and supporting evidence-based decision making.

My Department provides funding and encourages staff to consider AI Training to ensure they have the necessary skills and understanding to use AI responsibly and effectively.

The courses offered align with the public service transformation strategy, ‘Better Public Services’ which aims to enhance service delivery through technology and digitisation, and will equip participants with the fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence (AI), as well as its potential and implications for public service organisations.

The following table details the AI course take-up by staff in my Department since 2024: