Ireland’s AI advisory council calls for targeted policies and strategic investments

The recommendations by the Irish government’s independent AI advisory body underscore several critical areas where there are opportunities for the Irish government to accelerate AI adoption, encourage responsible innovation and reinforce Ireland’s role in the global AI ecosystem. 

The advisory body said that Ireland could potentially become Europe’s preferred base for both startups and established companies seeking to launch or scale AI products and AI-first ventures, but to ensure Ireland's competitiveness, the government must implement targeted policies and strategic investments.

These policies and investments should focus on offering clear regulatory guidance, fostering innovation sandboxes, which provide secure environments for testing and refining AI, and emphasising practical, real-world applications.

One of its recommendations to the government involves establishing an ‘AI Observatory’ to provide real-time, publicly available data and insights on a wide range of AI metrics such as labour market dynamics, capital flows, skills development, quality of life enhancements, complementary innovations, and public attitudes.

Dublin-based technology law expert Maureen Daly of Pinsent Masons said: “The proposed AI Observatory would greatly benefit policymakers, educators, and workers, by offering comprehensive data and insights on various AI metrics as well as effectively illustrating the impact of AI across different sectors in real-time.”

Another important suggestion by the AI Advisory Council relates to the speedy rollout of a national AI regulatory sandbox. While the EU’s AI Act outlines sandbox support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups, the AI Advisory Council has recommended that Ireland build out AI testbeds for multiple sectors in parallel, as part of the government’s efforts to accelerate innovation and ensure businesses have a clear path to EU AI Act compliance.

The AI Advisory Council has also recommended the Irish government to review its copyright laws and licensing regimes, an exercise that it said is “imperative” to ensure these regimes are equipped to address AI disruption in the creative sector and better protect creators in the age of AI.

“Several countries, including the UK and the US, are reviewing their copyright laws to assess their adequacy concerning AI-generated works. It is time for Ireland to follow suit, as recommended by the Council, particularly in respect of ‘computer-generated works’. Given various developments in case law, the time has arrived for Ireland to align its copyright laws with those of the EU,” said Daly.

“Furthermore, clear guidance is needed on reserving rights against text and data mining under Irish copyright law, as the current uncertainty is causing problems for creators and AI developers alike,” she added.

The Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill, which will outline how the EU AI Act will be enforced in Ireland, is being prepared by the Irish government, and has been included in the government’s spring 2025 legislative programme. More recently, the government has announced that it will adopt a distributed model for implementing the EU AI Act. It has appointed eight public bodies as competent authorities, responsible for implementing and enforcing the Act within their respective sectors. Additional authorities, and a lead regulator which will coordinate enforcement of the Act and provide a number of centralised functions, will be designated by the government in the near future.