1044. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the usage of artificial intelligence within his Department; the categories of usage; the usage of artificial intelligence within any bodies under the aegis of his Department; the categories of usage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57223/26]

The response below details the current position in relation to the usage of AI within the Department and Offices under the aegis of the Department. I have asked the Agencies under the aegis of the Department to provide a direct written response to the Deputy.

My Department has an internal departmental policy governing the use of AI since 2023 which was substantially revised in 2025.

The current policy designates Microsoft Copilot Chat as the approved generative AI platform for internal Departmental use, reflecting considerations around enterprise security, alignment with existing ICT infrastructure, licensing, and data protection. The availability and use of Microsoft Copilot Chat since that date by internal staff has been actively supported through the ongoing provision of training resources led by the ICT and Organisation Culture Teams within the Department.

Generative AI tools have not to date been embedded directly into core administrative/processing areas of the organisation. However, there is a broad uptake in the use of Microsoft Copilot Chat, which has primarily been used in relation to areas such as research, supporting policy development, undertaking statistical and quantitative data analysis, summarising text and information, developing presentations, refining and editing reports, as well as within the Information Technology and Communications functions.

A number of pilots in relation to the development of internal chatbots to support staff in accessing and navigating knowledge bases are also currently underway, though none are yet deployed to production. There is also use of related (non-generative AI) capabilities such as robotic process automation and machine learning to support internal teams in routing enquiries to the correct team for response and in reviewing and validating signatures on company registration submissions. In each case, a key focus is to ensure there is human oversight of how these automation capabilities are working and, where needed, human intervention takes place.

Overall, the current policy statement on AI seeks to provide general awareness for staff around the capabilities, support appropriate adoption, and encourage the development of suitable use cases supported by a governance and risk management model which permits controlled use of AI while maintaining safeguards consistent with cybersecurity, data protection, and responsible AI guidance and this policy position will be kept updated as needed reflective of current guidance, including the recently published advice by the National Cyber Security Centre which is currently being reviewed internally.