Further and Higher Education
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-12
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James Lawless (FF), Kildare North

There are a couple of things. I recently launched a website called aiready.ie . The Deputy might have tried it out. I urge anyone who has not already to do so. That website is specifically targeted at short AI familiarity skills. It is not necessarily building up to expert user level but building up an awareness of AI and how it works - how it can be used, for example, in a small business, for personal use, planning a holiday packing list, organising an event, etc. It is the intention that it will help with that. That is very much the first phase of it. That will ramp up over time, with multiple courses added to it. I am also working with my team to look at the micro-credentials delivered through Springboard+, Skillnet and similar courses to have a wider range of offerings, with greater subsidies available for learners who might want to take them up. Some might be in employment, some may wish to go independently, but I am looking at greater subvention of those courses to make them even more affordable than they already are. Those are two measures.
The Higher Education Authority has published guidelines around the use of AI in education to make sure that student competence is still coming through both in terms of testing but also in terms of the competencies and skills that are being taught to the student.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-12/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-12