Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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4178. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide a report on the progress made implementing the programme for Government commitments within his remit relating to AI research since the formation of the Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55356/26]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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During the lifetime of this Government, significant progress has been made in advancing research in AI, as outlined in the Programme for Government.

As the Deputy may be aware, my Department, together with Research Ireland, has funded the new Rinn Artificial Intelligence Centre, with an investment of €120 million to strengthen Ireland’s AI capability. Rinn Artificial Intelligence is designed to serve as a national hub for research and innovation in data science and AI. System-wide coherence and synergies are being supported through the simultaneous establishment of tow complementary Rinn Centres, namely Rinn Quantum (approximately €40 million) and Rinn Semiconductors (approximately €71 million).

Officials from my Department represent Ireland on the Governing Board of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (JU), which since 2024 has supported co-funded initiatives relevant to AI infrastructure, including AI Factories and AI Factory Antennas. This month, the Irish AI Factory Antenna was launched, with a €10 million budget jointly funded by my Department and the European Commission. Open to academia, industry, and the public sector, the AI Factory Antenna will support research and innovation across Ireland’s digital ecosystem. Other opportunities promoted by the EuroHPC JU are currently under consideration.

Furthermore, as the Deputy will know, high-performance computing (HPC) is a key enabler of AI. In this regard, procurement of the CASPIr National Supercomputer is ongoing.

Finally, the INSPIRE research infrastructure investment package will under its pillar 1 and pillar 2 programmes provide at least €500 million for research equipment in the higher education sector in the coming years. Projects involving AI infrastructure will be eligible to apply under this scheme.