Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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474. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 297 of 10 July 2025, if he will provide further details on how artificial intelligence is used to analyse content to produce IT documentation; if this is a new output from his Department or replacing a function previously done by an employee; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40561/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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In respect of using artificial intelligence to analyse content to produce IT documentation, my Department conducted a short-term research project to investigate the viability and effectiveness of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to interrogate software code of legacy IT systems to ascertain the rules and logic held within those systems. This research project was carried out in the context of modernisation of legacy IT systems. The research project provided new outputs (rules and logic) and does not replace a function previously done by an employee. As a result of analysis of these outputs, the decision was taken not to use AI for the present to produce IT documentation.

All present and future AI use cases are subject to human review, data protection and governance measures. My department is committed to ensuring that any use of AI is informed by an assessment of any potential human rights and equality implications, with a need for careful management in accordance with privacy and broader ethical and legal frameworks. For operational and security reasons, my Department has been advised by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) not to disclose details which could, in any way, identify potential vulnerabilities in Departmental Cybersecurity arrangements.