Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-01
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Dee Ryan (FF), Nominated by the Taoiseach

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. I thank her for giving the time today to discuss and introduce the Bill into the House. As a member of the AI committee and with a background in business, I am very appreciative of the regulatory infrastructure the Bill now provides. I am aware of the huge amount of work the Minister of State and her officials have put into creating this regulatory framework.
It will allow us not only to ensure that the citizens of Ireland are served with the safe use of artificial intelligence, but that safe opportunities will be created for us to innovate within Ireland, using AI to deliver better public services, where appropriate, and equipping our business community to innovate, flourish and develop.
I welcome the Bill and acknowledge the significant amount of work the Minister of State and her officials have put into getting it to this stage. The Committee on Artificial Intelligence has been preparing for this over recent months. We have been meeting with the competent authorities, each of which is taking responsibility for monitoring and overseeing the regulation in its own area. To be fair, they had many questions as to how they would interact with the AI office. From a first reading of the Bill, it seems the Minister of State has answered many of those questions in the draft legislation. I look forward to reviewing the legislation further and participating in a constructive way with colleagues here in the House in proposing any amendments that might be useful in developing the most beneficial and fruitful framework for the regulation of this important technology and for overseeing its use in our future and in our children's future.

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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