Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-09
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Lynn Ruane (IND), University of Dublin

Amendment No. 28 imposes an obligation on the Minister and the Government to have due regard to the need for the CEO of the artificial intelligence office to possess specific professional experience in fields relevant to the work of the office. As drafted, the Bill does not include any provisions relating to the expertise or experience expected of the CEO of the office. The amendment specifies that the CEO should have expertise across at least two of the following fields: data protection and GDPR; human and fundamental rights; digital rights or technology law; equality law and policy; climate or energy systems; public administration and governance; and civil society engagement.
The amendment would encourage the appointment of a well-rounded, public interest-focused leadership within the office’s executive, ensuring that it does not become dominated by a technical or commercial perspective. Achieving a balance between public interest protections and innovation at the level of the chief executive would promote greater independence, credibility and public confidence in the work of the office. The amendment is particularly important in circumstances where the Minister designates a person as the first CEO of the office, as the Minister is empowered to do under the Bill. Significant concern has been expressed about this provision across civil society and academia. There are fears that the designation of a CEO for a period of five years undermines the office’s independence from the Government and the Department from the outset. The danger of the provisions of section 24, as drafted, is that a person designated as CEO could effectively be a political appointee handpicked by the Government to promote AI innovation at the expense of developing robust regulatory safeguards to prevent the potential social, cultural and environmental harm caused by AI in contemporary society.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:11+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-09