Report of the Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Motion
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-26
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Malcolm Byrne (FF), Wicklow-Wexford

This has been a very informative debate. It reflects the nature of how our committee has worked. If we think about our role as legislators, our responsibility is towards the safety of our citizens and those who live here. It is about equipping people to be able to deal with the challenges that we face in our lives and in our workplaces. It is about supporting innovation and creating an environment where jobs and wealth can be created. It is about ensuring that we deliver public services in as effective and efficient a way as possible, that it is targeted at those who need supports, and that it allows for us to have a better society in which to live. Artificial intelligence cuts across all of those. It is the most transformative technology. As the Minister of State and colleagues have said, it is about getting that balance right between regulation and innovation.
Deputy Geoghegan spoke about Ireland being a mature democracy. I often reflect on this. When we come into this Chamber on some of the big set-piece days there is a lot of theatre that goes on. The media become obsessed about the disagreements and the arguments. I have to say that I have learned so much at this committee. I felt we worked in a really collaborative way. People took off their party hats. I learned from colleagues as well and I thank James, Darren and Sinéad, and all the members of the committee for their views.
There were disagreements on issues. I found that our views have changed. Sometimes we might not necessarily get the answers, but we suddenly start to think of the questions that we need to ask. In a mature democracy, it is critical that parliamentary committees operate in that way. The outcome of that, because we were able to work together, is we have come up with those 85 recommendations. They chime with a lot of what has gone into the strategy.
As we move through other modules, I look forward to be able to further impact on Government policy. We are continuing to deal with AI in the State. We will be moving on soon to explore issues like AI and justice, AI and the creative industries, which I know the Minister of State is very passionate about, AI and energy and AI and education. We are learning from people right across these Houses, and from civic society organisations, business, and academic experts. We are very keen to hear their views. People can email ai@oireachtas.ie . That is an open call for e-mails.
We should not underestimate the scale of the changes that are happening. Every new technology is often overhyped in the short term, but it tends to be underestimated in the medium to long term. AI is having a profound impact. I am really grateful to colleagues. We are committed to continuing to work together to explore all of those issues and to working closely with the Minister of State and the Government to deliver the best for our citizens and those who reside here.
Our committee has an awful lot more work to do. We have requested that it be put on a permanent footing. I am sure the Minister of State will support us in that regard. Debates like this are critical, but it is important that the debate is not just within this House. We need more debates in the media, business organisations, trades unions and civic society about how we deal with the threats and the challenges, but also about how Ireland can position itself to ensure that we benefit from the potential of this truly transformative technology.

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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/2026-02-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:42+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-26