AI office should be independent – ICCL
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has told an Oireachtas committee that the proposed national AI office should be an independent body with a dedicated budget and commissioner.
The office, which is responsible for enforcing the EU’s AI Act, currently sits within the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment.
The body’s executive director Joe O'Brien also told the Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence that more clarity was needed on how the State will decide to use AI or other algorithmic systems in public services and how service users will be informed when such systems are used.
The council called on the Government to set up a publicly accessible central register for all algorithmic systems used by public bodies.
‘Anti-regulation discourse’
Also at the committee, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) warned against an “anti-regulation discourse” that it argued would strip away fundamental rights protection in the interests of corporate profits.
The commission said that Ireland’s approach to AI must be grounded in respect for human rights and equality, not just competitiveness and innovation.
Referring to Government guidelines on the use of AI in the public service, the body said that they made no reference to the , describing this omission as “extremely concerning”.
IHREC has been designated as one of Ireland’s nine fundamental-rights regulators under article 77 of the AI Act, giving it additional powers to assess how high-risk AI systems affect people’s rights.
It told the committee, however, that it needed dedicated, ring-fenced, multi-year funding and resources to fulfil this role effectively.