Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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309. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a comprehensive AI strategy to protect the rights and livelihoods of those working in the Irish tour guide industry will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35359/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Ireland's first National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy, 'AI – Here for Good' was launched in July 2021. The strategy serves as a roadmap for how Ireland can leverage the potential of AI for unlocking productivity, for addressing societal challenges, and for delivering public services. It envisions a future for Ireland as an international leader in using AI to the benefit of business, public services, and most importantly for people, through a people-centred, ethical approach to AI development, adoption and use.

The Refresh of the Strategy was published in November 2024. The Refresh takes account of the significant developments in AI technology and regulation since the original Strategy was published in 2021. Firstly, the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 precipitated a massive acceleration in the AI technologies that are available to consumers and businesses. Secondly, the EU AI Act came into force on 1 August 2024 so the parameters of the regulation of the use of AI in the EU are now clear.

The strategy sets out a whole of government approach to putting the necessary enablers in place to underpin AI adoption in enterprise and public services, including a supportive innovation ecosystem, a secure data and connectivity infrastructure, and policies to ensure that the workforce is prepared for the impact of AI.

AI is a horizontal technology and there are uses in every sector. It is likely that all sectors including Tourism will be disrupted or changed to some extent by AI adoption.

Tourism is of significant importance to the Irish economy, providing 227,000 jobs and €6 billion income to our economy in 2024. Tour guides play an important role in Ireland’s tourism competitiveness, enabling attractions and tour operators to offer engaging, high-quality visitor experiences.

While tour guiding is not a regulated profession with mandatory licensing in Ireland, Fáilte Ireland supports the sector to recruit tour guiding talent through a number of initiatives. Fáilte Ireland manages the Tour Guide Directory, designed to support the visibility of qualified guides, making it easier for businesses to connect with the right talent and for guides to showcase their expertise. It plays a key role in strengthening industry connections and promoting high standards across the sector. The directory features 844 active tour guides.

To support the development of tour guide training and recruitment, Fáilte Ireland participates in the Tour Guide Oversight Group, which includes sectoral representatives and education providers. The objectives of the group are to: conduct and review the professional practices and guidelines for tour guides in Ireland; provide a collaborative platform between the education providers and industry stakeholders and to share knowledge, support, trends and updates within the tourism sector.

In addition, Fáilte Ireland delivers an annual Tourist Guide Networking Seminar in partnership with the Incoming Tour Operators Association (ITOA) and the Association of Visitor Experiences & Attractions (AVEA) to provide a valuable platform for connecting tour guides with leading tour operators, offering direct employment opportunities for the upcoming season. The event consistently attracts approximately 140 tour guide students each year from across the country. Last year, 52 tourist guides secured employment through this event.

Fáilte Ireland also works closely with the ITOA to identify opportunities to attract targeted talent pools into the tour guiding sector. A live example of this is Fáilte Ireland connecting the ETBs offering tour guiding training across the country with the Garda Retired and the Retired Teachers' Association to generate a new pipeline of students for the upcoming academic year.

Fáilte Ireland also regularly features tour guides in its career promotion content, targeting jobseekers and students.

Tour guides emerge as one of the key in-demand roles in Fáilte Ireland’s annual labour market research with employers reporting ‘considerable difficulty’ in recruiting. According to Fáilte Ireland the difficulty in recruiting tour guides dropped from 45% in 2022 to 25% in 2023 to 17% in 2024.

Irish tourism product, including the Irish tour guide, is very well regarded and recognised for its outstanding quality and authenticity. Irish tour guides are renowned for their individuality, traditional story-telling ability and famous Irish humour. Their knowledge and ability to answer a broad range of questions make for unique tour experiences for our guests.

It is my view that there is a role for AI to enhance and complement the Irish tour guide product. It allows visitors, who would otherwise not be in the position to take a tour at all because of their schedules, itineraries or other limitations, to take unguided tours, at whatever times suit them and have an experience of Ireland. However, I think it is unlikely that it would completely replace the real life Irish tour guide and all that they can uniquely offer.