The Irish parliamentary Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence has published its First Interim Report. The Committee was formed to examine and make recommendations on Ireland’s approach to the development, deployment, regulation, and ethical considerations of AI, and on the means of ensuring that the approach supports economic growth, innovation, public trust, and societal benefit while safeguarding rights and mitigating risks.
The Committee has made 85 recommendations in its interim report including establishing the Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence on a permanent basis to provide ongoing oversight and guidance on AI policy and regulation. Further recommendations include:
- establishing a Citizens’ Assembly on Artificial Intelligence Digitalisation and Technology to facilitate inclusive public dialogue and democratic input on AI policy and ethics.
- an immediate, coordinated, all of government approach to AI is required. This should be led by the national AI Office, to be up and running by August 2026.
- developing a national AI risk register within the national AI office to identify and monitor systemic risks across sectors.
- additional funding and resources to nine agencies responsibility for protecting human rights under the EU AI Act.
- include obligations on platform owners to prevent the use of AI-driven recommender systems for misinformation campaigns aimed at destabilising society.
- introducing mandatory algorithmic impact assessments for high-risk AI systems in public services.
- a coordinated national effort across education, from primary school to workplace, to support AI literacy, ensuring that teachers and workers understand the opportunities and limitations of AI tools, and that access to these tools is equitable.
- guarantee that AI-systems or tools do not filter out voices from underprivileged communities or marginalised groups. Participation with civil society groups must be prioritised to ensure that language models used in machine learning processes recognise different dialects and input from different communities.
- accountability, traceability, transparency and explainability must be embedded in AI in Ireland.
- all public bodies and semi-state entities using AI in public services must publish annual evidence-based reports detailing benefits, disadvantages, and any inequalities identified. These reports should be made publicly accessible to ensure transparency and accountability.
The Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence hopes that the issues raised in this interim report will be the subject of a debate in both Houses of the Oireachtas.
