Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-01 ============================================================ Niamh Smyth (FF), Cavan-Monaghan I thank the Cathaoirleach and colleagues for their attendance here this evening. I am very pleased to bring this Bill before the House today. The purpose of the Bill is to bring full effect in Ireland to EU Regulation 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council, that is, the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act, which I will refer to throughout as the AI Act. As with all EU regulations, the AI Act has direct legal effect across all 27 member states. It aims to harmonise rules for AI systems across the EU, creating a single market and ensuring a consistent approach to risk, safety and fundamental rights. With those aims in mind, this Bill is a technical implementing measure. It does not add to, nor alter, the obligations placed on regulated entities by the AI Act. This Bill establishes essential domestic regulatory architecture for the supervision and enforcement of the AI Act in the State. In particular, the Bill does three things: it establishes a national AI office here in Ireland; empowers our competent authorities to supervise the regulation of Al; and creates a robust administrative sanctions framework for enforcement. Artificial intelligence is one of the defining technologies of our time. It is already delivering real benefits across medicine, public services and, of course, the wider economy. Our national digital and AI strategy, Digital Ireland: Connecting our People, Securing our Future, sets out Ireland's ambition to be a global hub for applied AI innovation. However, AI also carries real risk. Without appropriate oversight, it can embed and amplify discrimination, manipulate behaviour or worse, exploit the vulnerabilities of people, posing threats to the health, safety and fundamental rights of our citizens. The AI Act, which entered into force in August 2024, is the first ever legal framework designed to address these concerns while simultaneously fostering innovation of responsible and ethical Al. There are five main pillars to the AI Act, which set out obligations across a number of categories and uses of AI systems and models and, crucially, mandate member states to put in place competent authorities and meaningful penalties to ensure effective enforcement. Key pillars of the AI Act include: it prohibits a limited set of practices that pose an unacceptable risk; it imposes stringent requirements on high-risk AI systems used in sensitive areas such as biometrics and critical infrastructure; it introduces transparency obligations for AI systems that interact with people or generate synthetic content, including deepfakes; and it places obligations on general purpose AI models to mitigate systemic risk. As Ireland assumes the Presidency of the Council of the EU, as we did today, meeting our obligations under the AI Act will further strengthen our position as an EU centre of excellence and digital regulatory hub. It will also demonstrate our commitment to fostering responsible, human-centric AI innovation, both domestically and across Europe. There is also a firm legal deadline. Enforcement of prohibited AI practices posing unacceptable risks, as set out in Article 5 of the AI Act, takes effect on 2 August 2026. Ireland must have the necessary national supervisory and enforcement infrastructure in place by that date. As I have noted and I have no doubt Senators are aware, the EU’s digital omnibus on AI, which is a set of targeted amendments to the AI Act, was provisionally agreed in May 2026 and approved by the European Parliament in June. Ireland supports the agreed omnibus, which helps increase legal certainty and reduce administrative burden. Importantly, the omnibus extends certain implementation timelines, including for transparency obligations and high-risk AI system requirements. However, the omnibus does not extend the timeline for enforcement of prohibited AI practices. The 2 August 2026 deadline remains firm and this Bill addresses it directly. Any amendments to domestic legislation that may be required following formal adoption of the digital omnibus on AI will be addressed as part of the second phase of the work in the autumn. The second phase will also provide an opportunity to further enhance Al regulation in accordance with the Al Act if required. Having set out the context and urgency of this Bill, I will now outline its main provisions. The Bill is structured in ten Parts, with 139 sections and four Schedules. Its overarching policy objective is to ensure that the Al Act can be comprehensively and effectively implemented in Ireland. Part 1 of the Bill, comprising sections 1 to 5, provides for Title and commencement, key definitions, regulation-making powers, service of documents and expenses to provide that the costs of administering the Act are funded with the appropriate ministerial approval. Part 2 is set out over sections 6 to 40 and provides for the establishment of the Al office of Ireland and its governance structure, including appointment of its board, CEO and staff, and its accountability, funding and functions. Part 3, comprising sections 41 to 52, provides for the practical operational infrastructure underpinning enforcement of the Al Act in Ireland, designating the Al office as the national single point of contact, requiring it to maintain a national Al register to record prohibited Al practices, serious incidents and other notifications, and establishing Al regulatory sandboxes and real-world testing for high-risk Al systems under its supervision. Market surveillance authorities are a key cohort of the national competent authorities required for the implementation of the Al Act. Part 4 sets out, at sections 54 to 66, the general obligations and powers of market surveillance authorities, including the power to receive complaints from the public. Section 59 specifically enables fundamental rights bodies to request the testing of high-risk Al systems where infringements of fundamental rights are suspected. Part 5, comprising sections 67 to 77, provides market surveillance authorities with a comprehensive, structured and proportionate enforcement toolkit, progressing from co-operative compliance measures through to coercive intervention. Authorised officers appointed under sections 68 to 70 are empowered to inspect premises, records and products, require information and take samples, and to issue contravention or prohibition notices, or seize products in the most serious cases. Part 6, set out over sections 78 to 120, establishes an independent adjudication system for administrative fines for breaches of the Al Act, allowing matters investigated by an authorised officer and supported by a market surveillance authority to be referred to an independent adjudicator. It provides for substantial fines aligned with the Al Act, with public bodies capped at €1 million, rights of appeal, High Court confirmation before any fine takes effect, and the nomination and appointment of adjudicators, while expressly safeguarding their independence. Part 7 of the Bill concerns penalties and miscellaneous provisions and, at sections 121 to 127, sets out criminal penalties for obstruction of authorised officers, failure to comply with enforcement notices and unauthorised disclosure of confidential information. Part 8, at sections 128 to 133, amends the Central Bank Act 1942 to equip the Central Bank with the investigatory and sanctioning tools necessary for its role as a market surveillance authority under the Al Act. Part 9, at sections 134 to 137, amends the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014 to equip the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission with the investigatory and sanctioning tools necessary for its role as a market surveillance authority under the Al Act. Part 10, at sections 138 and 139, contains miscellaneous amendments including consequential amendments to the Communications Regulation Act 2002 and the Freedom of Information Act 2014. Additionally, there are four Schedules governing oral hearing procedures, the assignment of adjudicators and the register of adjudicators. Establishing a credible and coherent Al enforcement regime in Ireland underscores our commitment to responsible Al development and is a core component of our international competitiveness offering. In this respect, it is imperative that the State has a comprehensive and robust legal basis for the full and effective implementation of the Al Act. I am confident that the Bill achieves this objective in a balanced and proportionate manner. I thank Senators for their attention, and I commend the Bill to the House. --- 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/2026-07-01/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:08+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-01