Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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390. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will commit to the establishment of a youth advisory panel in the establishment of the national artificial intelligence office; if he will outline how the office will ensure the voices of children and young people are heard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51800/25]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The effective implementation of the EU AI Act in Ireland is critical to ensure that the guardrails are in place to ensure the transparent and ethically adoption of AI and also to drive innovation, competitiveness and productivity in delivering products and services for our economy and society.

As the Deputy is aware a distributed model for implementation building on Ireland’s strong regulatory structures to maintain regulatory coherence and efficiency and reflects the Government’s commitment to responsible innovation and the adoption of trustworthy AI. A new statutory independent body will be established to act as the central coordinating authority for the implementation and enforcement of the EU AI Act in Ireland.

The planning for the new AI Office is ongoing to scope out its mandate and responsibilities to ensure effective governance and co-ordination and also to act as a focal point for AI in Ireland, and my Department has retained professional consultancy services in this regard.

Education, AI literacy and outreach will be a key function of this new AI Office and once established will be engaging extensively with a diverse range of stakeholders including children and young people. My Department has already worked with CeADAR, Ireland’s Centre for AI to develop an online AI literacy training course “AI for You: Introduction to AI and the EU AI Act”, which is available free of cost to all as a tool to increase the awareness of AI.