Artificial Intelligence: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-28 ============================================================ Gareth Scahill (FG), Nominated by the Taoiseach Last month, the Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence published an interim report that argued that the framing of AI in terms of regulation versus innovation is misplaced and that the two can co-exist. We all know AI is here. It is real. It is already shaping how businesses design products, serve customers, manage supply chains and compete internationally. For Irish businesses, from family-run SMEs to our global multinationals, AI is one of the most powerful productive tools of our generation. It can help manufacturers to reduce waste and energy costs, and allow retailers to better anticipate demand. It can enable farmers to optimise yields, logistics firms to cut delays and start-ups in regional towns to reach global markets. Used properly, AI is not about replacing people. It is about backing people. It frees workers from repetitive tasks so they can focus on judgment, creativity and connectivity. It gives small firms access to capabilities once reserved for the biggest corporations. Quite simply, it is a lever. On days like today in Leinster House, I sometimes wish I had an AI assistant because Wednesday seems to be one of those days. Ireland is exceptionally well placed to lead in this area. We have a skilled workforce, a strong enterprise base, a global technology footprint and a proven track record in adapting to change. Our ambition should be unashamedly bold - to make Ireland the best place in Europe to build, adopt and scale for AI. However, ambition alone will not be enough. To harness the potential, we must radically rethink how we prepare people and that starts with education. Countries like Estonia are not debating whether AI belongs in the classroom. They are embedding it across their education systems. Children there are learning with AI and not just about AI. Teachers are being supported, not displaced. Students are leaving school fluent in the tools that will define the modern workplace. If we are serious about competitiveness, AI cannot be something young people first encounter in the workplace. It must be part of how we teach, train and upskill across a lifetime. This is how we build confidence, capability and resilience in our workforce. Recent weeks have reminded us that with power comes great responsibility. The misuse of AI to generate illegal and harmful material is unacceptable. The generation of non-consensual intimate images is illegal. At a meeting of the Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence yesterday, I said that 6,700 images are produced per hour by Grok. Because of all the publicity in Ireland in recent weeks, Grok is the number one app downloaded in Ireland. As we found out yesterday, while the Minister of State has been given assurances, there are VPNs out there that every person on the street using this technology can adjust to access the things we are trying to block. Let us not beat around the bush; the creation of child sexual abuse material is illegal. It is not a grey area. It is a criminal act that causes real harm and corrodes public trust in technology. This is why Ireland and Europe are acting. Under the Digital Services Act, very large online platforms have clear obligations to assess and mitigate risks, including the spread of illegal content and the protection of minors. The European Commission's decision to open a formal investigation into X with Coimisiún na Meán's formal association demonstrates that our regulatory system is independent, credible and prepared to act. Alongside this, the EU Artificial Intelligence Act provides a risk-based framework prohibiting unacceptable practices, placing obligations on high-risk systems and ensuring transparency where it matters most. This is not regulation for regulation's sake. It is proportionate and targeted and gives certainty to innovators. For business, this is crucial. Good regulation is not an enemy of innovation; it is a foundation. Enterprises invest where they have clarity, customers adapt where they have trust and markets grow where people believe technology is being used responsibly. Ireland's approach is to get the balance right - to drive rapid AI adoption across every sector while ensuring that AI is lawful, human-centred and trustworthy. Through a national AI office, the implementation of the Artificial Intelligence Act and our national digital and AI strategy, we are building an ecosystem that supports enterprise, rewards innovation and protects the public. The message to Irish businesses is straightforward: AI is an opportunity we cannot afford to ignore. I will finish up with a reference to something we would all have received today from Digital Business Ireland. It states that the current debate on AI must not lose sight of the opportunity it offers to business, particularly Irish SMEs. It states that for Irish firms and their workers, AI presents a significant opportunity to enhance productivity, unlock new capabilities and generate real value. That is where we need to go with this. --- 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/seanad/2026-01-28/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:33+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-01-28