Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-15
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Niamh Smyth (FF), Cavan-Monaghan

I thank Senator Conway very much. I appreciate the amendment. I recognise and share the Senator's underlying concern to ensure people who expose wrongdoing in AI systems are properly protected. I do not accept that this amendment is necessary to achieve that, though. Section 62 already applies the full Protected Disclosures Act 2014 framework, as strengthened by the 2022 Act, to the reporting of AI regulation infringements, in direct implementation of Article 87 of the regulation. That framework already offers broad personal scope, tiered reporting channels, a reverse burden of proof, interim relief, confidentiality and criminal sanctions for retaliation. In addition, Article 87 of the AI Act provides that Directive (EU) 2019/1937, the EU whistleblowing directive, applies to the reporting of infringements of the AI regulation and the protection of people who report them. I believe a bespoke AI-specific report on enhanced protections would not improve that. For that reason, I am not in a position to accept the amendment.

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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