Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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909. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in view of recent incidents of AI chatbots producing and posting racist and antisemitic content, the steps he is taking to ensure that AI chatbots in use in Ireland do not post hateful and harmful content; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42291/25]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The specific use of AI by deployers (which may include social media companies) is subject to the EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act. A key objective of the regulation is to protect against harmful effects of AI systems in the Union in terms of health, safety and fundamental rights. The Act is not a blanket regulation applying to all AI systems, rather, it adopts a risk-based approach to regulation, based on four risk categories in order to ensure that its measures are targeted and proportionate. The categories range from unacceptable to minimal risk. While initial phases of the Act, including setting out rules for prohibited AI practices, are now in effect, the provisions to enable surveillance, penalties and enforcement will come into effect in August 2026 and there will be formal regulatory mechanisms available to the relevant surveillance authorities to engage with individual companies specifically in relation to their AI systems.

My Department has been working with stakeholders both nationally and across the EU over the last number of years in preparation for the implementation of the AI Act. Part of the work has been to generally consult and communicate with the wide range of entities set out in the Act, including providers and deployers of AI, and to raise awareness of the obligations arising from the Act for which the need to make the necessary provisions.

Last week I signed the Statutory Instrument for the European Union Artificial Intelligence Designation Regulations 2025. This SI designates the key competent authorities for the regulation of AI in Ireland alongside a single point of contact for the Act. I am pleased to say this was done in advance of the 2 August 2025 deadline thus fulfilling another important obligation of the AI Act.

The next step involves utilising primary legislation to establish a new central coordinating authority, provide a legal basis for designated market surveillance authorities to cooperate, and lay down rules for penalties and other enforcement measures for non-compliance. Work is underway on preparing heads of this Bill, which must be enacted by 2 August 2026.

This will add to a significant body of existing legislation providing the foundation for Ireland’s online safety framework, including the regulation of social media.

Coimisiún na Meán, as Ireland’s new online safety and media regulator, is at the heart of that framework. It was established under the Online Safety and Media Regulation (OSMR) Act, which transposed the EU Audio Visual Media Services Directive, and provides that An Coimisiún is independent in the exercise of its functions. The OSMR Act along with the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), under which An Coimisiún is Ireland’s Digital Services Coordinator, and the EU Terrorist Content Online Regulation for which An Coimisiún is a competent authority, are the main elements of Ireland's online safety framework.

Its role is not to moderate individual pieces of content but to ensure that the regulated platforms have the correct safety measures in place to prevent illegal or harmful content being shown.

Under the framework, it is for the regulated platforms to demonstrate that they have the correct safety measures in place to prevent illegal or harmful content being shown. A failure to adequately address these requirements can lead to significant financial sanctions and, under the OSMR Act, continued non-compliance can lead to criminal sanctions for senior management.