Progress in Implementing the European Union Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence (Volume 1): Ireland
Table of contents
The European Union (EU) Coordinated Plan on Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a strategic initiative by the European Commission and EU Member States to promote AI development, investment and co-operation. In 2024, the OECD conducted a survey and interviews to take stock of implementation progress made by the EU Member States in implementing the actions set in the EU Coordinated Plan on AI. Drawing on the information collected, the OECD prepared country notes for each EU Member State. This document presents the country note for Ireland, which summarises key initiatives and implementation progress.
Artificial intelligence (AI) policy making in Ireland is adapting to emerging challenges and opportunities: Ireland launched its national AI strategy in 2021. A stock-taking exercise was carried out two years later and a high-level strategy update (“refresh”) was released in November 2024 that considers the developments in AI technology and regulation since the original strategy’s adoption.
AI is viewed as an important lever for improving public service delivery that requires appropriate guidance and support: AI adoption in the public sector is fostered by defining appropriate safeguards, addressing development needs for AI talent and promoting an “open” environment for accelerating and testing AI applications. The government has issued Interim Guidelines for Use of AI in the public service and Cyber Security Guidance on Generative AI for Public Sector Bodies.
Research and development excellence in AI and related areas is pursued through a network of research centres and other funding mechanisms: Research Ireland funds basic and applied research in fields including AI through a range of instruments including grants and challenges. Important areas of research notably include AI, data analytics, quantum technologies, the semiconductor ecosystem, edge computing and future AI-based solutions for sixth-generation technology for wireless communications (6G) networks.
Promoting AI diffusion and uptake across the economy is central to Ireland’s AI policies: The Enterprise Digital Advisory Forum contributes to industry adoption of digital technologies including AI. The 2024 strategy refresh includes among its strategic actions the development of a national campaign to raise awareness among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the benefits of adopting AI and available support.
Efforts are underway to help develop sectoral AI use cases and applications, with many projects still at the pilot stage: The government plans to commission research on the potential impacts of AI (including generative AI) and other advanced technologies on key sectors of the Irish economy to help identify promising sectoral use cases and policy options to promote uptake. Health and climate action are important areas of focus, several AI-related pilot projects are underway in mobility and the strategic research programme in digital agriculture includes AI-related projects.
Ireland launched its national AI strategy AI – Here for Good (Government of Ireland, 2021[1]), in July 2021, following its commitment in the 2019 Future of Jobs report and a public consultation process in autumn 2019. The strategy’s core principles revolve around an ethical and human-centric approach to AI development, adoption and use, openness and adaptability, and robust, trust-enhancing governance. It considers AI from several perspectives (although it does not focus on specific sectors) and defines the following objectives:
Strong public trust in AI as a force for societal good in Ireland.
An agile and appropriate governance and regulatory environment for AI.
Increased productivity through a step change in AI adoption by Irish enterprises.
Better public service outcomes through a step change in AI adoption by the Irish public sector.
A strong Irish ecosystem for high-quality and responsible AI research and innovation.
A workforce prepared for and adopting AI.
A data, digital and connectivity infrastructure which provides a secure foundation for AI development and use in Ireland.
A progress report (Government of Ireland, 2023[2]) taking stock on the strategy’s implementation was published in July 2023. In November 2024, a high-level strategy update, or “refresh”, was released (Government of Ireland, 2024[3]). This refresh takes account of the “significant developments in AI technology and regulation” since the original strategy’s adoption. Important strategic actions in this refresh notably relate to promoting the effective implementation of the European Union (EU) AI Act, analysing the potential impacts of AI (including generative AI) on key sectors of the economy, raising awareness among SMEs of the benefits of AI adoption and available support, setting up an AI regulatory sandbox to foster innovation, developing AI talent and expanding existing digital upskilling and reskilling initiatives, creating a safe space for experimentation with AI tools in the public sector, enhancing access to advanced AI computing services and strengthening the infrastructure required for future AI roll-out.
The Prime Minister’s Office (Department of the Taoiseach) leads on the implementation of Ireland’s overall National Digital Strategy, with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment leading on the national AI strategy. The Department of the Taoiseach also chairs a Senior Officials Group on Digital Issues whose work includes monitoring AI-related trends and actions. A Top Team on Standards for AI has also been established under the leadership of the National Standards Authority of Ireland to support the strategy’s implementation via a standards and assurance roadmap for AI (NSAI, 2024[4]).
No dedicated budget envelope has been allocated for the AI strategy. Instead, public investment in the promotion of AI development and uptake is channelled through a variety of mechanisms within the different ministries, often as part of initiatives that cover AI in addition to other areas or topics.
To help address the need for building public trust in AI, including because of generative AI’s expansion, the AI Advisory Council was established by the minister of state responsible for digitalisation in late 2023 and held its first meeting in January 2024. The council is tasked with providing expert guidance, advice, analysis and recommendations to government on emerging issues in AI. Its mandate also includes public engagement aimed at promoting trustworthy, ethical and person-centred AI.
This council complements the work carried out by the Enterprise Digital Advisory Forum (EDAF) (Government of Ireland, 2024[5]), which was created in May 2022 and focuses on industry adoption of digital technologies including AI. EDAF’s encompasses officials from the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, state agencies as well as representatives from domestic enterprises of all sizes, multinational enterprises and experts in digital technologies and their adoption by enterprises. Other sources of independent AI expertise include Ireland’s research community, in particular Research Ireland supported research centres, e.g. the #DiscussAI public engagement programme from the Research Ireland Research Centre for AI-Driven Digital Content Technology (ADAPT).
Ireland is in the process of updating or adopting several key initiatives. A new Public Service Data Strategy was being developed and expected to be published in 2025 at the time of writing. The development of the strategy presents a timely opportunity to build on the actions taken under the 2019-23 strategy and take a comprehensive and joined-up approach to investment and opportunities provided by the EU data strategy in relation to the data held in Ireland, the use of which is necessary for improved policy making and service delivery. Irish government officials stressed the importance of ensuring cohesiveness with other investments, such as an EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)-funded data centre, as well as stakeholder engagement, in this context. The second Irish Open Data Strategy 2023-2027 also supports transparent data provenance and open licensing (CC-BY 4.0) for all open government data.
The country’s first semiconductor strategy was scheduled for release in early 2025 at the time of writing. The National Quantum Technologies Strategy, which focuses strongly on research, was published in the fourth quarter of 2023. Moreover, an independent review of national high-performance computing (HPC) requirements for researchers in academia and enterprise to drive innovation and adoption of AI and other advanced technologies was underway at the time of writing.
Over the period 2018-23, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), now Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland, has dedicated EUR 197 million to AI research through a range of instruments including grants and challenges. The primary funding beneficiaries are Research Ireland Centres (EUR 131 million) and SFI Centres for Research Training (EUR 26 million). In co‑operation with industry actors, the Irish government has also started promoting applied research and uptake of AI through measures aimed at improving access to financing, expertise and infrastructure, notably for AI start-ups, and envisions to scale up some of these measures soon. The 2024 refresh of Ireland’s national AI strategy includes among its strategic actions the development of a national campaign to raise awareness among SMEs of the benefits of adopting AI and available support. It also foresees the establishment of an AI regulatory sandbox to foster innovation and regulatory learning and provide legal certainty for investors. In addition to AI-specific initiatives, the National Smart Specialisation Strategy for Innovation includes AI-related measures aimed at Irish regions (Government of Ireland, n.d.[11]).
The 2024 refresh of the national AI strategy foresees expanding the range of existing digital upskilling and reskilling initiatives. There are several initiatives underway that aim at enhancing digital literacy (e.g. Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy 2024-2033, with digital literacy encompassing digital citizenship, data privacy and online safety) and securing availability of specialised skills. Most of these initiatives have an AI component. Initiatives are also in place to embed digital technologies including AI in education and training. The Irish government intends to provide advice and support to schools in this area as part of its Digital Strategy for Schools to 2027.
Note: No information is available on budget allocated to specific AI components of the initiatives presented, which tend to be (much) broader in scope. Whenever available, global amounts for the initiative at hand are indicated.
Ireland has deployed efforts to develop AI in the public sector, including by defining appropriate safeguards, addressing development needs for AI talent and promoting an open environment for accelerating and testing AI applications. Health is another strong area of focus, and the national AI strategy foresees to “include opportunities for AI in climate action as part of the development of future climate policies” (although the project pipeline remains limited). Moreover, several pilot projects are underway in mobility and AI features in some projects funded the country’s strategic research programme in digital agriculture. The Government of Ireland plans to commission research on the potential impacts of AI (including generative AI) and other advanced technologies on key sectors of the Irish economy, to help identify promising sectoral use cases and policy options to promote uptake (Government of Ireland, 2024[3]).
In 2012, Ireland established a health data governance framework, emphasising the importance of information governance and establishing key safeguards for the secondary use of health data; however, work continues to integrate the country’s fragmented digital health ecosystem (HIQA, 2012[15]). This challenge is partly due to Ireland’s dual public-private healthcare system, with services delivered by both sectors. The public sector, regulated by the Department of Health and managed by the Health Service Executive (HSE), oversees the provision of health services across six recently defined health regions (Government of Ireland, 2004[16]). Since its establishment in 2004, the HSE has been central to advancing AI and digital health initiatives in collaboration with eHealth Ireland (Government of Ireland, 2004[16]). Digital health efforts have evolved with the launch of the Digital for Care – A Digital Health Framework for Ireland 2024‑2030 (hereafter the “Digital Health Framework”), which aims to enhances Ireland’s capacity to integrate data across current electronic health record (EHR) systems, alongside efforts to establish national standards for interoperability, a centralised shared care record platform and a national procurement process for future EHR developments (Government of Ireland, 2024[17]).
Under the RRP, Ireland is investing in e-health infrastructure to prepare for future AI integration in healthcare, even though current initiatives do not yet focus specifically on AI. The Digital Health Framework outlines a comprehensive strategy to transform health services by 2030, prioritising digital health literacy and data interoperability as foundational elements (Government of Ireland, 2024[17]). A key initiative within this plan is the development of e-health skills among the healthcare workforce, ensuring they are equipped to meet the evolving demands of the digital era (Government of Ireland, 2024[17]). Data interoperability progress is advancing under the European Health Data Space, which now allows access to Irish patient health data via three separate databases through a centralised webpage (Government of Ireland, 2024[18]). Ireland also stands out in genomic research, with the establishment of Genomics Medicine Ireland in 2015 and its participation in the EU 1+ Million Genomes initiative since 2022 (McMahon, 2020[19]). With its strong policy foundation, Ireland is well-positioned to develop the necessary technical infrastructure and semantic interoperability to ensure that data quality supports AI models and enable AI to play a growing role in Irish health services, enhancing public health efforts, patient care and clinical decision-making.
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