Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-15
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Patricia Stephenson (SD), Labour Panel

I move amendment No. 78:
In page 68, lines 27 to 29, to delete all words from and including "or" in line 27 down to and including line 29.
Part 6 of the Bill provides for a general administrative sanctions regime to be utilised by the applicable market surveillance authorities, allowing administrative fines to be imposed on those in breach of their obligations under the AI Act. Amendments Nos. 78 and 79 relate to the procedure following an adjudication of an infringement or breach of the AI regulation. In circumstances where an independent adjudicator finds a breach of the AI Act, this will include a finding as to the amount of the administrative fine that should be imposed and the date by which it must be paid. When an infringement is deemed by an independent adjudicator to have been committed, the relevant market surveillance authority is empowered under the Bill either to adopt the finding or adjudication, or indeed to decline it. Concern has been expressed by a large swathe of civil society representatives regarding the provision that empowers market surveillance authorities to decline to adopt a finding or adjudication under the section. We are proposing the deletion of the section as a consequence.
Allowing a market surveillance authority to decline to adopt an adjudicator's findings risks undermining the whole purpose of the adjudication process. If the authority can just say it is going to opt out, not going to acknowledge the finding or not going to proceed with or act on it, then what is the purpose of the adjudication process? What is the purpose of it if the authority is going to follow only those findings it accepts?
Public confidence and trust in regulation and oversight of AI systems are fundamental to this whole process. If suspected breaches have taken place and an adjudicator finds that there has been some sort of breach but an AI market surveillance authority can decline to adopt that finding, it is an issue in terms of the process but also in terms of how people perceive the AI regulation system and process and can have faith that they are working.

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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