64. Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment his Department's position on the usage of artificial intelligence programmes during hiring processes. [66606/26]

Publicjobs, under the aegis of the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and is the primary recruiter for the Public Service.

Internal competitions run by my Department sets out the following policy on the use of artificial intelligence:

The Department recognises that honesty and integrity are key values in the Civil Service. While we support and encourage the responsible use of AI and emerging technologies to promote learning and productivity, we also want to ensure that applicants reflect their own experience, skills, and understanding of the role when preparing application forms. This aligns with the broader principle in the 2025 Guidelines for the Responsible Use of AI in the Public Service, which emphasise that AI should support, not replace, human input— especially in contexts requiring personal judgement, integrity, and self-reflection.

The use of AI tools should be kept to a minimum and must not be used to generate or rewrite substantive content in application forms.

In relation to recruitment competitions managed, on behalf of my Department, by our Licensed Recruiter, these are conducted through fully human-led assessment and selection processes.

Our licensed Recruiter does not use AI to analyse, screen, filter, rank, shortlist, score or evaluate candidate applications for Department competitions, nor has AI been used to make or recommend selection decisions. Candidate applications and assessments are reviewed by recruitment professionals and/or the appointed assessment panels in accordance with the agreed competition methodology and criteria.