Address to Seanad Éireann by Members of the European Parliament Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-18 ============================================================ Michael McNamara I wish to discuss with Senators a couple of files that will be particularly important to Ireland and during the Irish Presidency. The first one is the AI omnibus. The original AI Act was a genuine achievement passed in 2024, a landmark attempt to govern artificial intelligence in a way that protects fundamental rights, ensures legal certainty and supports responsible innovation. The omnibus is the Commission's proposal to amend it before it is even fully in force. This requires careful scrutiny. I should say that it is anticipated that this omnibus will be complete in the first half of this year. If there is any delay at all, however, it will fall to the Irish Presidency to conclude that omnibus, which, because it delays part of the implementation of part of the Act, which comes into force on 2 August, has to be concluded at the latest at the beginning of July. The European Parliament has a responsibility to ensure that any amendments to the AI Act reflect the public interest as opposed to just the preferences of those with the deepest pockets and the most persistent lobbyists at their disposal. Where the Commission's proposal aligns with what industry has been seeking, that alignment requires explanation and justification. Simplification that genuinely reduces burdens on SMEs and improves legal certainty and clarity is welcome. Simplification that removes safeguards that citizens fought hard to secure is something quite different, and the Parliament must scrutinise that. There is one addition which I, as a rapporteur on the file, am determined to secure. Senators will be aware of the controversy that erupted at the start of this year around the AI tool Grok being used to digitally undress images of women and children and share them online. This caused revulsion, and rightly so. The AI Act, as it stands, does not explicitly prohibit the non-consensual generation or manipulation of intimate images, which are known as AI nudification tools. It should be stressed that these are not unique to Grok in any way. It is just that Grok perhaps used these as a unique selling point. These recent controversies involving major AI platforms have demonstrated exactly how serious the harm is. It is a violation of dignity and privacy. In many cases it is a weapon used against women, particularly those who run for election. As rapporteur, I will be seeking to have the practice explicitly classified as prohibited under Article 5 of the AI Act. As Article 5 is already in place, any such ban would take immediate effect across all member states from enactment. I am encouraged that in the Parliament there is a broad spectrum of support across the political spectrum, but I urge Senators who are members of political parties affiliated with one of the larger groups that is not in support of the proposition to lobby those parties. I am talking about the EPP which, for reasons we have yet to determine, is currently not supportive of the proposition. However, it is early days in the legislative process. Crucially, the Irish Government has signalled its support and that it is supporting an initiative being led primarily by France. With Ireland holding the Presidency, that matters. Alongside having a role in respect of the AI Act, I am shadow rapporteur on the digital omnibus, the Commission's parallel package, which has very significant implications for the GDPR and the wider architecture of European data law. The digital omnibus includes proposals that would change how pseudonymised data can be shared, how AI companies process sensitive data and the legal basis under the GDPR for using that data for training AI. One element is the codification of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, CJEU, but there are many people, myself included, who believe that what is proposed actually goes further. These are not technical footnotes; these are fundamental questions affecting fundamental rights. The CJEU has repeatedly said that the right to privacy regarding one's data is a key right in the EU and one that becomes increasingly important as we rely more and more on smartphones and as our data can more readily be abused by nefarious actors. Senators will be aware that Ireland's Data Protection Commission is the lead supervisory authority in Europe for many of the world's largest tech companies, precisely because so many of them have their European headquarters here. This means that this is not just of legal and moral interest to us, it is also of great economic interest. Ireland is uniquely exposed. When the GDPR is weakened or enforcement is diluted, Ireland is in the spotlight. When we hold the Presidency, we will simultaneously be chairing the negotiations that will determine the outcome. Ireland needs to be clear-eyed about the pressures that will come during the Presidency. The major tech companies headquartered in Dublin, many of which are global leaders in AI, have significant financial and political interests in the outcomes of the AI omnibus and the digital omnibus. They will engage and lobby, as is their right, but holding the Presidency demands that Ireland act as an honest broker for all 27 member states and all European citizens. It does not mean being the tech companies' preferred chair at the table. The Data Protection Commission has painstakingly and, as many would acknowledge, almost painfully built over many years a reputation as a serious, rigorous and independent regulator. Ireland's Presidency must be consistent with that reputation, not in tension with it. Ireland has always taken its European responsibilities seriously. It is a small country but one that has embraced the opportunities that membership of the EU afforded it. When we held the Presidency before, we demonstrated size is not a barrier to effective and principled leadership. The challenges facing the Union in the second half of 2026 will be considerable. The ongoing war on the Continent has been mentioned. There is also a fraying transatlantic relationship, to which we are particularly exposed, and the matters of negotiations on the next long-term budget, including the CAP, and a digital and AI agenda that will shape the kind of society Europe becomes. Ireland must approach all of this in the spirit that has always defined its European engagement, namely as a constructive partner, an honest broker and a country that believes in the EU. --- 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/2026-02-18/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:39+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-18