James Geoghegan
Dublin Bay South · Fine Gael · Ireland
“I say, in a non-partisan way, that it would be helpful if other political parties carried out an exercise similar to the one we are carrying out and if they presented different papers.”
“I welcome the opportunity to debate such a significant issue. It is helpful that this debate is being framed from a line Department perspective in that it has begun by looking at the fiscal implications of a united Ireland. It would be helpful if we also had a debate on the implications for education and health of a united Ireland.”
“Obviously, none of that will be sufficient unless we can demonstrate to every community in Northern Ireland that the country will be an inclusive place, but we in Ireland have shown just how inclusive we can be. I am 41 years old.”
“With the passage of time, however, any fair and impartial observer would recognise that institutional benefit of ensuring that Ireland and the United Kingdom had a joint role in the affairs of Northern Ireland proved to be instrumental in all the subsequent peace agreements we ultimately arrived at.”
“However, nobody can underestimate the challenges the State faces in persuading a population that is very sceptical that we would we welcome them to this country and that we could provide a state that would function.”
“He highlighted the euro, which is important. If we think back to the Scottish referendum, one of the biggest reasons it failed was because the Scottish people were not certain whether they were going to have the British pound or the euro.”
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“To conclude, with strong and clear regulation, by urgently addressing our future skills need and by introducing the targeted reforms necessary for Irish start-ups to scale, there is a clear path forward. Ireland can be a model for how good regulation of Al is compatible with a dynamic environment for businesses and workers. The joint Oireachtas Al committee will play an important role in scrutinising the Government’s progress in each of these areas, and I look forward to playing my role in that process.”
“However, attracting FDI is only part of the equation. Given our base of talent, Al presents a real chance for new, Irish-led companies to emerge, scale and export. The need for indigenous companies to scale and grow in Ireland has been crystallised by the disruption of our global trading system over the past year. However, our track record in creating the right conditions for Irish start-ups and scale-ups has not been as strong as our record on FDI. Great work is being done to encourage the development of tech start-ups, with the likes of Dogpatch Labs and the Guinness Enterprise Centre, but our Stock Exchange has seen something of an exodus.”
“Our highly skilled workforce and Irish companies need to confidently take the risk and access the capital required to take risks, innovate and scale. The good news is that we have introduced bold measures in the past that have attracted cutting-edge, high-value industries to Ireland. Changes to our corporation tax system, as well as initiatives to educate our population, led to technology and pharmaceutical companies locating in Ireland. The fruits of this are evident in the hundreds of thousands of people they employ. Google, for example, first employed only five people in Ireland when it set up operations here in 2003. It now employs over 5,000 people in Ireland. There are many examples just like this. Even now, OpenAl plans to double its headcount in Ireland. We are clearly at the races for attracting future investment.”
“Faced with such uncertainty, it is the job of policymakers to prepare for multiple scenarios. The goal of the Al strategy is to equip all our people, young and old, with the skills required to manage these potential disruptions. Exploring how Al might reshape our labour market, impact the future prospects of our young people and the skills we need to equip our workers with will therefore be a crucial element of the joint Oireachtas committee’s work. This is intimately related to the final theme of my remarks, namely, the environment we need for our well-equipped workforce to participate in Al innovation, adoption and scaling. Skills are a necessary but not sufficient condition for Ireland’s economy to flourish in the new, digital future. The foundations of our enterprise model also need to change.”
“The new Al strategy will provide clarity to all relevant arms of the State on the direction of travel, and organise a whole-of-government approach to preparing our workforce for an uncertain future. Last year, over 1,000 jobs a week were created, a record 2.83 million people were at work in the fourth quarter of last year, and almost 1 million jobs have been created since 2011. In other words, we are in a better place than most countries, but the risks we face are significant. The Department of Finance’s most recent quarterly economic report highlighted those risks. It said that Ireland was particularly exposed to Al, given the high concentration of employment in knowledge-intensive sectors like ICT, financial services, and research and development.”
“To realise the potential of these technologies, there are things beyond regulation we must consider. As regards the skills gap, the national Al and digital strategy contains several initiatives intended to equip our country for the new world of work. It commits to a roadmap for technology skills of the future, a new national skills observatory to monitor labour market dynamics, a one-stop-shop Al skilling platform and more. The most important thing here is that these initiatives be up and moving as quickly as possible. There is already progress being made in the Department of further and higher education in this respect and there is exciting work going on in many of our universities already.”
“We can press for changes at the EU level during our Presidency. We should push for the EU to prohibit under the Al Act the deployment of Al systems for producing intimate imagery of real people without their consent or that might be used to produce child sex abuse material. As I said, it is surprising that this has not already been done. People on all sides of this House agree on the need to strongly regulate technologies that put our children and everyone else at risk, and will support the Government in its efforts. There is much we can do at a domestic level not only to protect people, but to see that the country as a whole benefits from the opportunities that these technologies present in the fields of medicine, financial services, energy, pharmaceuticals, and research and development.”
“The report focuses less on the impact that Al might have on enterprises and jobs across the country. That is why our broader enterprise and innovation environment, along with how Al might affect our labour market, are subjects I look forward to considering in more depth over the coming year on the committee. Our EU Presidency, of course, presents a unique chance for Ireland to lead on each of these three themes: regulation, innovation and the future of work at a European level. This is a chance the Government must grab with both hands. When it comes to regulation, with the Presidency fast approaching, it is clear that regulation of Al systems will be a central focus. As I mentioned, Coimisiún na Meán has already made recommendations regarding how we can expand the AI Act. However, there is more we can do.”
“The report contains a number of recommendations. This evening's debate coincides well with the recently published national, digital and AI strategy, a strategy published by the Department of the Taoiseach, which is a roadmap of where Ireland is going. It contains 90 deliverables across a wide number of Departments and agencies. These involve the digitalisation and integration of AI into our public services, the adoption of Al across enterprise, our regulatory framework and preparing for the future of work. The committee’s report considers each of these areas, with a particular focus on regulation. Regulating AI is obviously essential and important for the committee to consider carefully, given our adoption of the EU’s Al Act, which adopts a risk-based and rights-centric approach that is an example for other legislatures to follow.”
“Many commentators also argued that the wave of these new technologies would sweep aside economies, institutions and societies - the world as we know it - and that there was nothing states could do about it. I was sceptical of this narrative then and I still am now. The state will play a central role in the future of this technology and in how quickly it is developed, how widely it is adopted and how stringently it is regulated. Given that our leaders thought AI warranted an entire joint Oireachtas committee, I knew that preparing Ireland for this new future was being taken seriously at the highest levels of Government. That is why the work of the joint Oireachtas committee is so important, and why the publication of this first interim report is a good opportunity to reflect on where we are going.”
“I am pleased that the Minister of State, in her speech today, has made clear that Ireland is also going to support this, along with other member states, and that this is something we can drive forward in the Presidency. That will be a great legacy. We can do this at the same time as showcasing an AI summit, which the Minister of State has highlighted. Again, this is an issue that came before our joint Oireachtas committee and there were early calls for it, including from me. The establishment of the joint Oireachtas AI committee last year marked an important moment. It was a recognition that technologies had the potential to reform our economy, our society and people's everyday lives. When I joined the committee, AI was something I saw almost incessantly in the media, a technology that would deliver either utopia or the apocalypse.”
“Ultimately, we are a mature democracy and I am proud of the fact that Ireland is a strong member of the European Union and we will have an opportunity to shape the AI Act. There was an effort to conflate the omnibus Bill, which is efforts in relation to innovation, and the protection against harm in the deployment of AI by mentioning Grok and everything related to it. The reality is that, when Coimisiún na Meán came before the joint Oireachtas AI committee last week, it supported the recommendation of the national AI council that we should expand the AI Act at an EU level to prohibit any system that could be deployed for the purposes of providing non-consensual adult images or child sex abuse material. I have to say it shocks me that this does not already form part of the legislation, but we are where we are, as they say.”
“I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and the Minister of State. I too acknowledge our Chair, Deputy Malcolm Byrne, and other colleagues on the joint Oireachtas AI committee. Before I continue, I will address some of the remarks made by Deputy Gibney because, while I believe they are sincerely held, I do not think they are a true, fair or accurate characterisation of the views of the members of the committee, whether in opposition or government. Deputy O'Rourke's contribution surmises that fact. In fairness, Deputy Gibney highlighted how we came together in the work of the committee which is somewhat contradictory to saying that there is a binary position between Government and Opposition.”
“I emphasise the positive impact those centres can have in providing services in the community they are located in, but also in supporting entry into adult hospitals and children's hospitals. We need to continue that investment in primary care.”
“I acknowledge the HSE capital plan that was announced today by the Minister, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, and the Government, particularly the investment across all of our tertiary hospitals, but also in primary care. One particular primary care centre in my constituency, which I campaigned on as a councillor, is the Rathmines primary care centre. It is being co-located on a site where Dublin City Council is building age-friendly housing that will be supported by an approved housing body. I emphasise the impact on the community it is located in. I ask that we continue to invest in the roll-out of primary care centres. Terenure is another area that is underinvested in when it comes to primary care.”
“I know this is an issue that has been debated in the Seanad and that my colleague, Deputy Butterly, intends to publish a Private Members' Bill on it but could the Taoiseach update the House on how this is being examined by the Government and whether the Government is considering progressing this as an issue because the time has come for us to have a specific offence dealing with retail workers and assaults and threats of assault against them in the same way that we introduced hate legislation and harm in respect of hate legislation?”
“I am sure the Taoiseach shares my condemnation of the violent assault that took place in Temple Bar, which I know is before the courts so I will not comment on it any further. What we do know is that safety continues to be an ongoing issue in Dublin city, particularly as it relates to retail workers. Obviously, it is not just an issue in Dublin but is nationwide. Over 300,000 people work in retail in Ireland. One of the big asks of the retail sector is that we would introduce specific offences dealing with retail workers who are harassed or face threats.”
“Another school in my constituency, Star of the Sea Boys National School, made an application for an SNA for a child who is in a special class because the special class could not support the child without an additional SNA. An appeal on this matter is due to be heard by the NCSE on 27 February. I hope there is a positive outcome with the appeal, and I hope that those types of appeals are not paused. I want a positive outcome in this case in order that the SNA will be allocated to Star of the Sea so the child can go to a special class in a school in his own community.”
“I welcome the decision by the Minister for Education and Youth to pause the review and the support of the Government for that decision. A school in my constituency, Scoil Bhríde, had applied for an additional SNA and was told that not only would it not get an additional SNA, it would lose an SNA that had been with the school. That is a good example of where a school has clearly identified an additional need and the review has gotten it wrong. I acknowledge that the Taoiseach is saying now that appeals should be submitted. I just want clarity. As the matter is paused, should a school like this submit an appeal even while the pause is ongoing? Separately, I acknowledge the overall issue about ensuring we have the correct SNA allocations.”
“I also think that the Department will see sense and will support the school with the additional moneys it has been granted to fix the issue with the downpipe in order to avoid the school being closed or the children not being able to gain access to it.”
“They are now rotting away at the side because of the issue with the downpipe. Some moneys have been allocated in excess of what the school sought. Common sense should prevail here. Acknowledging the number of schools the Department funds throughout the country and the number of applications that are made, I urge that particular priority be given to this school. As I said, it is a DEIS school, which, let us be frank, is different from another school that might be in my constituency and that might be able to take out the biscuit tin and raise some money from parents to ensure that the necessary work is done. CBS Westland Row is simply not in that position. I hope the school will submit an appeal. In light of what the Minister of State said, I think it will do so.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his response on behalf of the Minister and the Department. I also thank the Minister, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton. In the context of any appeal the school may bring, I take note of the link between the significant amount of funds provided for the electrical works scheme and the challenge that, for whatever reason under the Department's system, a downpipe does not meet the necessary threshold that, perhaps, electrical installations, emergency lighting or fire alarms meet. The school faced this issue previously. It is a protected building. Funding was received for windows that have been installed, but it was not possible to get additional funding to deal with the downpipe. I saw the windows. Over €280,000 was spent by the Department on them.”
“It has also received funding for a science laboratory. All of these funding mechanisms have been made available but the underlying mechanics of the school are so challenging that some of the classrooms would have to shut. All I am looking for is for one side of the Department to talk to the other and that a pragmatic outcome is arrived at to support a DEIS secondary school in the heart of the south inner city. The principal and deputy principal are just trying to keep the school open, ensure the teachers are working in a safe environment, and maintain the classrooms it currently has. I ask that one side talk to the other and sufficient funding be made available to meet the downpipe challenge the school faces.”
“I am not an engineer but it seems likely that this electrical upgrade project, which has been granted by the Department, will be almost impossible to proceed, or it does not make sense to proceed, while these downpipe issues continue. Yet when the school applies under the emergency works application for the downpipe works, it faces a ceiling of approximately €50,000, which its own architects have identified will be insufficient to meet the challenge. The school has been advised by the Department that it can come back for the summer works programme for the downpipe issue but the challenge there is the deadline has already closed for the summer works programme for this term and it would have to wait until autumn. Meanwhile, it has received funding of €100,000 from the community integration fund for its hall.”
“I was brought through the various classrooms with black mould on some of the ceilings and toilets that are completely out of use. I think there is one toilet available for all of the boys. It is a mixed secondary school. There is a possibility that some of the classrooms will have to be shut. The challenge lies not in the Department being unwilling to provide the necessary funding to complete the downpipe but in bureaucracy. In December 2025, this school was granted emergency works to the value of €742,688 for a stand-alone electrical upgrade project. In fact, the moneys granted exceed the amount necessary to provide that stand-alone electrical work upgrade project. The actual project will cost the school €425,270.47, some €300,000 less than what the Department granted for it.”
“I thank the Minister of State for attending to reply on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth. I raise this Topical Issue in relation to a local school in my constituency. It is a very famous secondary school that a lot of people might be familiar with, namely, CBS, Westland Row in Dublin 2. It is a DEIS school that has a very diverse student base. There are children who are living in emergency accommodation, in international protection accommodation, and in many of the neighbouring areas of the city. I called into the school on Wednesday because the principal and the deputy principal had contacted me. They are essentially reaching the end of the road with the school's emergency works application in relation to a downpipe issue in the school.”
“The Taoiseach will be aware that during the Davos summit remarks were noted by the co-chair of the World Economic Forum that Dublin could be a potential future location for a World Economic Forum event. I raised this as a Topical Issue and the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, gave the reply of behalf of the Government and made clear that if the World Economic Forum contacted the Government that some kind of event could perhaps be hosted in the context of the EU Presidency. There was reporting in The Irish Times that contact had been already made with the Government and there is the prospect of an event taking place in Dublin. Has the Taoiseach or anyone in his Department had contact with the World Economic Forum? Is there a prospect that Dublin could host a World Economic Forum event perhaps during the EU Presidency?”
“Issues arising from age assessment challenges for Tusla have been festering for a number of months if not over a year, and this is the chance to get it right, to get it right in this legislation. What is so important is that the Minister and the Department hear from the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, the Department of Health and Tusla to get this Bill right.”
“We have a responsibility to ensure that, if somebody is seeking international protection, if he or she is being handed over to Tusla, which has an additional ratio of staff or carers, he or she is actually a child and meets the requirement. It is impossible for the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to adequately scrutinise the provisions of this Bill in the absence of draft regulations. When this Bill comes to Committee Stage, the members of the committee should have access to the regulations the Minister intends to propose. I am not a member of this committee but I think it should hear from Tusla regarding its views on the provisions because we really only have one chance to get this right.”
“The Department is effectively relying on social workers employed by Tusla who carry out these age assessments. Why is this so important? We know it is so important because the risk of adults mingling in child settings is a significant one. Members do not need me to point to recent incidents about why that is so serious. Children being placed in adult-only sections of accommodation is also a concern. It does not matter where one is from. We have an absolute obligation to look after children in this country. It is also clear that, for whatever reason, the number of unaccompanied minors seeking international protection, and I am sure the statistics are not unique to Ireland, is growing. We have a responsibility to those children.”
“I have a principal concern, which is that there is this legal obligation of assuming the person is a minor. Tusla's responsibilities are exceptionally different from those of the IPO, the statutory function of which is to assess whether the person has a valid entitlement to make an application for international protection in the first instance. The job of Tusla is to look after every child in this State irrespective of nationality. I do not think it is appropriate that, for the past number of years if not longer, unknown to many Members of this Oireachtas, the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has effectively outsourced age assessment to Tusla, notwithstanding the fact that the intention of the Oireachtas in the existing legislation has been that this role and statutory function would remain vested in the Department.”
“The Minister went on to reportedly state that she had concerns about the proposed assessments to determine the age of an applicant and that, in particular, a medical examination to determine age is not considered a reliable method of age verification and may represent a waste of health resources. There is no question that age assessment is a complex issue and there is no silver bullet to get an absolutist outcome. What is abundantly clear, and what was clear to me and every other member of the Committee of Public Accounts, is that Tusla is very concerned about the rising number of unaccompanied minors, its responsibilities relating to them and the timeliness with which age assessment referrals it makes to the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration are returned to it.”
“The Minister went on to say that the application of a robust and timely age assessment process that prevents the placing of adults with unaccompanied minors in State accommodation requires strong consideration and needs to be clearly addressed within the Bill's provisions. The Minister for Health's concerns related to her Department. What was reported was that she would welcome clarification of the legal basis on which medical data arising from a preliminary health assessment may be accessible to the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration or a tribunal.”
“I want to put on the record of the Dáil what was reported in respect of the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. What was reported was that the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality and her Department said that, given the clear legal requirements for the presumption of minority, any delay in the undertaking of the age assessment process greatly increased the serious risk of adults being placed in accommodation with unaccompanied minors. It was further noted that there do not appear to be provisions in the Bill for the undertaking of a preliminary age assessment process that may support the identification of persons falsely claiming to be minors, a number that is rising year on year.”
“If legal change is necessary to ensure that a place can be found for an international protection applicant when he or she arrives at Mount Street at whatever hour of the day, let us make that change. If it is an administrative change that is needed, let us make that change too, because there is no longer a reasonable excuse for or logic behind why an international protection applicant should be in a tent in a public park in any area of the city. The second issue I wish to raise, which is perhaps more substantive and relevant to the Bill, is age assessment. It was reported in The Sunday Times that, in submissions on the Bill, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality and the Minister for Health expressed misgivings regarding age assessment.”
“Over the long term, because of the work of the Minister and his predecessor and the fact that we have moved IPAS back under the umbrella of the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, largely speaking, there is sufficient accommodation for international protection applicants. Yet it is still the case, and the Minister will be familiar with this, that in our own constituency, individuals arrive at Mount Street and well-meaning volunteers provide them with tents while they wait to be provided with accommodation. Very often that accommodation is found within 24 to 48 hours, yet these individuals are settled in tents in public parks in our area, which are not appropriate places for international protection applicants to be. In addition to the humanitarian crisis, this is what ultimately instigated the changes we saw.”
“I acknowledge the work that has gone into this Bill. There are two issues I want to raise in respect of it, both of which the Minister is very familiar with. When Simon Harris was elected Taoiseach in April 2024, one of the first pressing concerns he faced was what was effectively a humanitarian crisis taking place on Mount Street because of the proliferation of international protection applicants who simply did not have anywhere to reside. To cut a long story short, agencies that perhaps were not working together started working together and a system developed involving Dublin City Council, IPAS, the IPO and An Garda Síochána working hand in glove.”
“I am very glad that the Government will seize this opportunity, should it arise, and that it is ready to take on that ambition.”
“Mark Carney set out that the old order is over but that the new one we are trying to create does not mean we get rid of all the foundations that made a world that was the kind of one we wanted it to be and created wealth in ways that were deemed unimaginable decades ago, largely built upon an open, free trade model that has been so successful for this country. Who better to promote that market economy than a country like Ireland that has benefited so well from it? As the Minister of State said, it speaks to what we have achieved in this country that we would even be talked about in this vein and that Dublin could host one of the most significant global summits. It speaks volumes that this was suggested by the co-convenor of the forum, who is co-founder of a company, BlackRock, that has many employees based in Ireland.”
“It is really important that we demonstrate ambition and hold up our hand. Our holding of the EU Presidency this year could well be a very good dress rehearsal that enables us to present Ireland in the light in which many of the millions of people working every day of the week in this country see it and who are so proud of what Ireland is, what it represents and of our culture and values. For perhaps the first time in a very long time, the World Economic Forum reminded us yesterday that there is a bit of hope for the world in which most of us, collectively in this Chamber, believe.”
“Mark Carney said at Davos: We shouldn't allow the rise of hard power to blind us to the fact that the power of legitimacy, integrity and rules will remain strong - if we choose to wield them together. The World Economic Forum has been held in Davos since 1971. The co-convenor has said it is time for the forum to move to a working hub and not a showcase city. The forum wants to remain relevant to the real economy. With Dublin being among the most connected and competitive cities in Europe, we really should seize this opportunity. Will the Government take up this call to potentially have Dublin as a future host of the World Economic Forum?”
“They can help shape a global order grounded in respect for human rights, sustainable development and the sovereignty of states. Ireland has been doing this since the foundation of the State, and we must continue to ensure that we are using our voice, our relationships and our credibility to contribute meaningfully to that work. We have always understood the value of engagement, whether through our role in the European Union, our peacekeeping records, our development partnerships or our diplomatic ties across continents. Ireland has consistently shown that constructive participation can make a difference. That approach is needed now more than ever.”
“Dublin was recently ranked first in Europe for economic potential in the fDi Intelligence major European cities of the future report. The city is also placed second overall, accounting for its strong business friendliness and FDI strategy. We are a transatlantic gateway with direct access to both the European and North American markets. As the only native English-speaking country in the European Union, Ireland provides a unique advantage for global firms navigating European operations. The city is also one of the most globally connected, connected by Dublin Airport, which is one of the top 20 in the world. I echo the words of the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, where he set out how middle-sized countries are not without influence.”
“Dublin is a bustling working city where the people who are shaping the global economy live. Ireland is one of the most business-friendly locations in Europe, underpinned by a Government committed to supporting enterprise innovation. Ranking as the most competitive economy in the eurozone and seventh most competitive globally, Dublin has firmly established itself as a global centre for financial services. There are now over 430 internationally focused financial service companies operating here, employing more than 50,000 people. Among them are 17 of the top 20 global banks and 11 of the world's 15 largest insurance companies. Their presence means that Ireland has become one of the largest exporters of financial services in the European Union and, indeed, the world, according to data from the World Trade Organization.”
“At a pivotal time of instability in the world, Ireland has a unique opportunity. Ireland is in a strong position internationally as a committed member of the European Union and with our diplomatic and trading relationships with the United States, the UK and China. We occupy a space that few small countries can match. We are a country that can bring people together and create the conditions for constructive engagement. The Minister of State may have seen that yesterday it was reported that the current co-chair of the World Economic Forum, Larry Fink, said that the World Economic Forum should start something new by meeting in places where modern industries are actually being built. He specifically named Dublin as a prime example of where the World Economic Forum could find itself.”
“We have to ensure that it continues to be supported and equally that the level of transparency that was demanded from the task force continues under the stewardship of the Taoiseach.”
“There were over 99 people arrested and over 82 have been prosecuted in relation to the Dublin riots, a dark day that was the pretext for the creation of the Dublin city task force. It has resulted in a more visible police presence in our city to deliver a safer city. The way in which waste is presented by commercial operators in parts of our city has changed to deliver a clean city. We are trying to get more people living in our city. As part of the task force there is a project under way, in combination with the measures we have introduced in terms of the living city initiative, to get people living above shops in places like Middle Abbey Street and North Frederick Street. My question relates to ensuring that central government holds a grip over the measures that lots of Members acknowledge are being delivered by Dublin City Council.”
“K. Whitaker and all the changes that were made in this country to open Ireland, to open our economy, to give us the kind of society and the kind of wealth that was unimaginable in decades past and that we have today, that we survive off today and that puts Ireland in the envy of Europe when it comes to employment. This is another one of these moments where we, as a State, as a country, have to decide how Ireland will harness the benefits from AI, how we will change how we operate in education and how we will change how we operate in our health services. For that reason, I really welcome this opportunity to speak.”
“We can show that with a strong regulatory environment, we can harness the benefits from AI and address the harms. Out there in the public, however, there is no doubt about it. We are talking this week about sexual harm that can be imposed from how AI entities can be manipulated, but one of the biggest concerns people have when it comes to AI is the disruption to the labour market. That is why it is so important that right now we get this right and that we adapt AI in a way that we ensure we are meeting the future skills needs for the kids who were here earlier, the kids who are in primary school, secondary school and third level. Whether we like it or not, this is a pivot moment in society the likes of which we have not seen for generations. We have seen in Ireland when moments like this arise that people stand up. One thinks back to T.”
“The EU Presidency, which Ireland will host, is a great opportunity for Ireland to lead in this direction. There is the intention to host an AI summit that would champion regulatory enforcement. We have already demonstrated that Ireland can attract some of the biggest technological companies in the world to base here, to attract a skilled labour force, to be supported by universities and research, that can develop extraordinary things that will literally change mankind. We have been able to do that, support employment and provide a regulatory based environment in which they operate. Ireland can show, when we host the Presidency and implement the AI Act, that we established the AI office and we have multiple competent authorities. We know that AI will touch every edifice of every single Government Department.”