Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2026-01-13 ============================================================ Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central The Minister of State, Deputy Niamh Smyth, has spoken very frankly and robustly to me in respect of this issue. She clearly has very strong views on it and how we engage both with the platforms and how we should legally respond. Because there are a number of different Departments with responsibility for different dimensions of this, we want to develop and formulate a co-ordinated response that will be there on an ongoing basis to respond to issues that may arise from time to time as technology develops; as AI develops. I think that is sensible and it is the right thing to do. In terms of the investigations, that is a matter for the investigating authorities and it always has been in respect of any illegality or breach of the law. I am not aware of a specific investigation yet by An Garda Síochána but it does not alert us to every investigation that takes place. It has to observe due process. I presume that is how this issue will be dealt with also. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-13/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-01-13