Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-15
============================================================

Niamh Smyth (FF), Cavan-Monaghan

The provision secures an important accountability and oversight function in the financial management of the office. As a publicly funded statutory body, the office will be entrusted with significant public resources. It is appropriate that mechanisms are available to provide assurance regarding the proper management and use of those resources. The power provided for in this section is supplementary to and does not replace the normal audit and accounting requirements that apply to the office. Its purpose is to ensure that, where necessary, an examination of the office's books and records may be undertaken in the interest of transparency, accountability and sound financial governance. The existence of the powers does not imply any routine or ongoing interference in the management of the office. Rather, it provides a mechanism that may be used where circumstances warrant additional examination or assurance. Similar oversight and accountability provisions are found in the legislation governing a range of statutory bodies. Therefore, I am satisfied the provision represents an appropriate safeguard and forms part of the overall governance and accountability framework established by the Bill. Accordingly, I will not accept the amendment.

---

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/2026-07-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:16+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-15