216. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the reason for the lack of representation for the music or arts sector at the AI Advisory Council and AI Office despite the Government’s support for such representation (details supplied); if he will ensure such representation; and if he will acknowledge that the lack of a regulator responsible for the music, arts and creative sector has resulted in no national competent authority to maintain regulatory coherence and efficiency in compliance with copyright law and with whom the AI Office can work to protect these sectors. [66506/26]

The AI Advisory Council was established in January 2024 for a two-year term to provide independent expert advice to Government on artificial intelligence policy, with a specific focus on building public trust and promoting trustworthy, person centred AI. The Council's term has come to an end and its work has concluded, reflecting the continued development of Ireland’s artificial intelligence policy framework and the establishment of permanent advisory and governance structures. Following two public calls for expressions of interest, I am satisfied that the composition of the Council reflected a diverse range of expertise, experience and perspectives from across civil society.

Oifig IS na hÉireann (the AI Office of Ireland) was established on 31st July 2026 and is in its establishment phase. It is the national authority responsible for coordinating the implementation of the EU AI Act. As part of the work of the Office, it is engaging with stakeholders from a wide range of sectors with the objective of building strong working relationships with them. It continues to identify and engage groups of stakeholders, including those in the arts and cultural sector. The rapid development of AI presents opportunities and challenges, and maintaining open dialogue between the Office and stakeholders across Ireland is a key part of the establishment of an Office that supports the development of ethical, human centred AI.

On 31st July Minister Burke appointed the seven members of the Board of Oifig IS na hÉireann (the AI Office of Ireland). The Board members bring extensive expertise across public administration, regulation, technology, governance, law, academia, consumer protection and ethics and includes experience in bringing together standards organisations to foster a unified response to deepfake technology.

The EU AI Act contains provisions applying to providers of general-purpose AI that entered into force on 2 August 2025. Article 53 requires models made available in the EU to be compliant with EU copyright law, in particular Article 4(3) of the Copyright in the DSM Directive (the Text and Data Mining (TDM) exception). The General-Purpose AI Code of Practice developed under the AI Act helps industry comply with the legal obligations on copyright. Providers are also required to complete a ‘Transparency Template’ providing a high-level overview of data used to train models. The EU AI Office is responsible for enforcing these provisions of the AI Act.

From the 2 August 2026, Article 50 of the AI Act imposed mandatory transparency obligations on providers and deployers of AI systems, which have a number of applications, including for copyright. AI systems already on the market before then will have until 2 December 2026 to comply. Compliance with these rules will be enforced by both the national competent market surveillance authorities and the EU AI Office.