Re-introduction of Mortgage Interest Relief: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2023-04-25
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Paschal Donohoe (FG), Dublin Central

I am pleased to advise the Deputy that, following discussions between my officials and those of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Enterprise Digital Advisory Forum will act in an advisory capacity in relation GovTech development in addition to its existing work.  The Forum, which was established by the previous Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation and created to support the government in driving the digitalisation of enterprise across Ireland.
The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs published a report on AI Skills in June 2022. The report made ten specific recommendations and the Labour Market and Skills Unit in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has established an Implementation Group to oversee their implementation.  The Group consists of representatives from the organisations named in the report as responsible for delivering the recommendations, and has met once to date, in January 2023.  Significant progress has been made already on many of the recommendations.  The Group will meet again to review progress before the end of the year. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has also convened a Working Group on Trustworthy AI Principles and Guidelines.  This group brings together experts in the area of AI, with representatives of Government Departments and state bodies, with a view to agreeing an accessible set of principles for the deployment of trustworthy and ethical AI in the public sector.  The group is considering the ways in which it can best help decision makers in the Public Service to make informed decisions on the use and deployment of AI.
Even looking at the Sinn Féin website today, we see the party spokesperson on environment and climate action, Deputy O'Rourke, is calling for an energy price cap. It is not clear who would pick up the tab but presumably the State would be on the hook for most if not all of it. Deputy Cullinane recently called for a multi-annual capacity expansion plan to deliver increased hospital capacity. The party's education spokesperson, Deputy Clarke, called for changes to the salary scale for new teachers and highlighted demands to increase spending on second level education from 1% to 1.9% of GDP, even though Sinn Féin knows well that GDP is not the appropriate metric for Government spending to be compared with other jurisdictions. It has also made recent calls for more funding for child and adolescent mental health services, increased investment in psychosocial supports for family carers, a dedicated retrofitting programme for solid fuel households, new supports to sheep farmers and increased stipends for PhD student supports. I could go on and on.

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Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2023-04-25