{"name":"Applied AI in Ireland — the record","description":"Every announced initiative, deployment, published result and regulation of applied AI on the record for Ireland, tagged by kind, industry, region and role, sourced and dated. A slice of the State of Applied AI record, maintained continuously by the Industrial Research Unit of the Straits Institute for Applied AI.","source":"https://www.straitsai.institute/state-of-applied-ai/ireland","partOf":"https://www.straitsai.institute/state-of-applied-ai/evidence.json","attribution":"Industrial Research Unit, Straits Institute for Applied AI","updated":"2026-10-29","facet":{"kind":"country","name":"Ireland","slug":"ireland","iso2":"IE","region":"Europe"},"nationalStrategy":{"name":"AI – Here for Good: National AI Strategy (refreshed 2024)","year":2024},"counts":{"entries":29,"deployments":13,"evidenceImpact":1,"evidenceAdoption":1,"regulation":14,"industries":11,"countries":1,"linked":29},"entries":[{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ireland","org":"Government of Ireland (Department of the Taoiseach)","text":"The Irish Government's Intelligence:Applied AI adoption plan lists 35 flagship actions. Core funding covers a €150 million AI Future Skills programme for worker training and lifelong learning and a €21 million AI Startup Accelerator Programme. A new Social Protection Innovation Hub tests generative AI that guides claimants through welfare eligibility, part of state AI uptake.","date":"2026-10-13","source":"https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-the-taoiseach/press-releases/launch-of-intelligenceapplied-programme-to-support-irish-workers-and-business-to-adopt-ai/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Technology & Software","region":"Ireland","org":"Data Protection Commission (Ireland)","text":"Ireland's Data Protection Commission issued Responsible Artificial Intelligence Innovation, AI data protection guidance distilled from overseeing roughly 180 AI tools during 2021 to 2025. The regulator frames the report as both an account of its interventions and advice for controllers. Lawful grounds for model training, chiefly legitimate interests, and clear disclosure dominate this privacy oversight of AI.","date":"2026-09-25","source":"https://www.dataprotection.ie/en/news-media/latest-news/data-protection-commission-publishes-ai-insights-report"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Healthcare & Life Sciences","region":"Ireland","org":"Health Service Executive (HSE)","text":"The Health Service Executive (HSE) issued guidance under Ireland AI regulation splitting health-service AI projects into five stages, from opportunity spotting to live oversight. An Opportunity Registration Platform, a Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment and an AI Inventory accompany the rules, and this clinical AI governance underpins the 2026 AI for Care strategy.","date":"2026-09-23","source":"https://htn.co.uk/2026/09/23/ai-implementation-framework-for-ireland-outlines-five-phase-approach-for-ai-projects/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ireland","role":"Judges and court staff","org":"Courts Service of Ireland","text":"Ireland's Courts Service will move its DAR AI Assistant, an AI court transcription and search tool, into a small-scale live pilot, with judges and court employees as users. Courthouse audio tests found 585 word errors in over 30,000 hand-checked words, a 2.2 percent rate, for the €170,000 system. Bad sound, more than regional accents, tripped up the AI transcripts.","date":"2026-09-23","source":"https://www.thestory.ie/2026/09/23/courts-service-tested-e170000-ai-transcription-system-to-see-if-it-could-cope-with-strong-irish-accents-and-localisms/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Finance & Insurance","region":"Ireland","role":"Pension adviser","org":"Pensions Awareness Ireland","text":"Pensions Awareness Ireland has released Ali, billed as the country's first AI retirement coach, to mark Pensions Awareness Week 2026. Ali takes a saver's age, chosen finishing age, gross yearly pay and monthly payments, then returns a dashboard setting out projected income. Schooled on the Irish pensions rules, the tool replies from that dashboard and shows whether a pot will fund the later life wanted — AI pension planning without an appointment.","date":"2026-09-21","source":"https://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/pensions-awareness-ireland-launches-ai-retirement-coach-working-life"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Legal & Professional Services","region":"Ireland","org":"High Court and Court of Appeal of Ireland","text":"Practice Direction HC 142 (Mr Justice David Barniville, President of the High Court) and Practice Direction CA 16 (Ms Justice Caroline Costello, President of the Court of Appeal) set Ireland AI regulation for generative AI in court documents. Users answer for their filings and must protect the integrity of proceedings. Breaches risk adverse costs orders, rejected documents or a struck-out claim or defence; practitioners face referral to the Legal Services Regulatory Authority or their professional body.","date":"2026-09-01","source":"https://www.lawsociety.ie/gazette/top-stories/2026/september/courts-guidance-on-genai-use-takes-effect/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Transport & Logistics","region":"Ireland","role":"All staff (airline)","org":"Ryanair","text":"Ryanair has signed a five-year deal putting Google Workspace and Gemini Enterprise in front of 35,000 employees, aiming AI in aviation at crew logistics, decision automation and corporate productivity. It also plans Google DeepMind's AlphaEvolve and WeatherNext models for maintenance scheduling and fleet operations; no deployment timeline was given.","date":"2026-08-12","source":"https://www.unite.ai/ryanair-adopts-gemini-enterprise-across-crew-logistics-and-flight-operations/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Healthcare & Life Sciences","region":"Ireland","org":"Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA)","text":"Ireland's Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has published the first national guidance on safe, responsible AI in health and social care, commissioned by the Department of Health. New AI must be judged safe and trustworthy before use, and HIQA calls accountability the foundation, requiring clear accountability lines and robust governance for every AI use.","date":"2026-07-29","source":"https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0729/1585587-health-ai-use/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ireland","org":"Oireachtas (Irish Parliament)","text":"Ireland's Oireachtas has handed the country a dedicated AI regulator: the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Act 2026 (Number 31 of 2026) creates the AI Office of Ireland, Oifig IS na hÉireann, tasked with enforcing the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) locally. This Irish AI regulation assigns market-watchdog duties to named bodies, opens sandboxes for testing high-risk systems under real conditions, and rolls out a public register, one-stop contact point, complaint-handling steps and penalties, together forming the state's new AI oversight framework.","date":"2026-07-21","source":"https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2026/act/31/enacted/en/index.html"},{"kind":"evidence-impact","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ireland","org":"Courts Service of Ireland","text":"A June 2026 review rated the Courts Service of Ireland's judicial Case AI Assistant proof of concept unfit for purpose, and other trials stalled before production over unacceptable accuracy, completeness or risk. The public information chatbot returned wrong or partial answers, while the staff chatbot was never switched on. Court AI guidance is now being drafted with judges through the Judicial AI Group.","date":"2026-07-19","source":"https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41885047.html"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Legal & Professional Services","region":"Ireland","role":"Lawyers","org":"Arthur Cox","text":"Arthur Cox is deploying Legora firm-wide as a strategic partner, alongside proprietary tools and its Innovation Lawyer Group, the country's first. Legora staff spent six weeks onsite for onboarding. Managing partner Geoff Moore says it fits a broader law firm AI strategy.","date":"2026-07-06","source":"https://legora.com/newsroom/arthur-cox-llp-partners-with-legora-to-scale-its-ai-enabled-legal-services"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Legal & Professional Services","region":"Ireland","role":"Solicitors","org":"McCann FitzGerald","text":"McCann FitzGerald has extended Harvey AI to all its lawyers and professionals, claiming the first firm-wide use of generative AI for legal work by an Irish firm. Adoption began in early 2024. Managing partner Stephen Holst links the spending to client commitment, and the firm presents this Harvey deployment as an aid to expert judgement, not a substitute.","date":"2026-03-16","source":"https://www.lawsociety.ie/gazette/top-stories/2026/march/mccann-fitzgerald-rolls-out-enterprise-wide-ai/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ireland","role":"Passport officer","org":"Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade","text":"Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is piloting Ask Finn, an internal AI chatbot for passport processing, as Passport Service, Revenue and Citizens Information Board officials prepared for the Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence. Revenue's AI models route taxpayer queries more precisely to caseworkers, and Citizens Information is rolling out its AskCI bot.","date":"2026-01-20","source":"https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0120/1553986-artificial-intelligence-committee/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Education & Training","region":"Ireland","org":"Higher Education Authority","text":"Ireland's HEA has issued a national policy framework guiding generative AI in higher education. Five pillars underpin it: integrity in academic work, equity plus inclusion, human oversight, data privacy and governance, and sustainable pedagogy. It steers responsible, values-led AI adoption in universities nationwide, rather than dictating one method.","date":"2025-12-22","source":"https://hea.ie/2025/12/22/hea-publishes-national-policy-framework-on-generative-ai-in-teaching-and-learning/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ireland","role":"Infrastructure surveyor","org":"Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council","text":"Gaist's AI road condition survey system now covers 823 km of routes for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Ireland's first such pilot by a local authority. Vehicle cameras capture 360-degree footage that AI software turns into surface ratings, faded-marking alerts and street furniture maps, feeding wider AI-based infrastructure monitoring.","date":"2025-12-19","source":"https://www.dlrcoco.ie/news/general-news/dlr-leads-way-irelands-first-ai-powered-road-and-footpath-survey"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Manufacturing, Energy & Resources","region":"Ireland","role":"Customer service agent","org":"SSE Airtricity","text":"SSE Airtricity's new AI energy advisor, the ESI Energy Advisor, now serves personalised savings tips to more than 65,000 smart meter households in Ireland. Built on Databricks infrastructure with Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.5 underneath, it mines billions of nightly meter readings to shape suggestions for individual homes. Within the advisor's first month live, 90% of logged-in customers clicked through to view their AI-powered energy savings recommendations, and unique visits to the insights section climbed 12% over the same period.","date":"2025-12","source":"https://theapplied.co/use-cases/how-sse-airtricity-drives-90-customer-engagement-with-ai-energy-insights"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Legal & Professional Services","region":"Ireland","role":"Solicitor","org":"RDJ LLP","text":"RDJ is rolling out Legora, a generative AI platform for legal professionals, across its Cork, Dublin and Galway offices following a multi-practice-area pilot. Every trial participant said they would recommend the platform to a colleague. Lawyers at the Irish firm gain access to AI assistants for lawyers, tabular review and workflow automation.","date":"2025-12-05","source":"https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/rdj-rolls-out-legoras-legal-ai-platform-firmwide"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Legal & Professional Services","region":"Ireland","org":"Law Society of Ireland","text":"Narrow, low-risk jobs only: the Law Society of Ireland's stance on generative AI in legal practice, greenlighting admin help, summarising and checklists through ChatGPT-style software. Legal advice, document review, and citing case law stay off-limits for LLMs, with AI tools for law firms unsuitable beyond those limited tasks.","date":"2025-11-12","source":"https://www.lawsociety.ie/gazette/top-stories/2025/november/law-society-sets-out-genai-guidance-for-solicitors/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Legal & Professional Services","region":"Ireland","org":"Judicial Council of Ireland","text":"Chief Justice Donal O'Donnell's committee has issued Ireland's first AI guidelines for judges: administrative tasks and speeches are fine, but generative AI use in the judiciary excludes legal research or case analysis. Fabricated citations and bias are key dangers. Chatbot answers need independent verification before an Irish judge relies on them.","date":"2025-11-06","source":"https://www.lawsociety.ie/gazette/top-stories/2025/november/guidelines-set-out-ai-red-flags-for-judges/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Legal & Professional Services","region":"Ireland","org":"Workplace Relations Commission","text":"Ireland's Workplace Relations Commission has issued AI guidance for litigants warning that generative AI tools risk fabricating claims about Irish employment and equality law. Filers stay fully answerable for whatever a submission says, no matter which tool drafted it, under this generative AI in legal submissions policy.","date":"2025-10-30","source":"https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/workplace-relations-commission-publishes-ai-guidance"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Agriculture & Food","region":"Ireland","role":"Seafood processor","org":"Dundalk Bay Seafoods","text":"Dundalk Bay Seafoods, a Co Louth family processor, runs Ireland's first AI-powered shellfish grader, scanning 10 seafood pieces per second via laser and machine vision. This AI shellfish grading system detects soft shells, cracks, sand and contaminants undamaged, starting with Dublin Bay Prawns and Razor Clams, backed by a €213,000 Seafood Development Programme grant.","date":"2025-08","source":"https://www.fdiforum.net/mag/featured/irish-seafood-processor-deploys-ai-for-shellfish-grading/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Retail & Consumer","region":"Ireland","role":"Retail sales assistant","org":"Lenehans","text":"Lenehans built a conversational AI shop assistant into lenehans.ie, covering over 30,000 products. Shoppers get tailored suggestions, live stock and delivery checks, plus guided DIY steps. Ireland's home retail sector rarely sees a retail AI assistant this broad.","date":"2025-08-07","source":"https://thehardwarejournal.ie/2025/08/07/lenehans-launches-irelands-first-ai-powered-shop-assistant/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Business Operations","region":"Ireland","role":"Office worker","org":"AIB","text":"Microsoft Copilot banking now touches 10,000 AIB staff via Microsoft 365 apps — Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, PowerPoint — cutting time spent on routine admin. AIB's AI Centre of Excellence is also crafting bespoke tools with Copilot Studio, extending AI in banking beyond a single off-the-shelf tool.","date":"2025-07-10","source":"https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366627242/Irish-bank-rolls-out-AI-tools-to-10000-staff"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Finance & Insurance","region":"Ireland","role":"Banking professional","org":"Allied Irish Banks (AIB)","text":"Roughly 10,000 AIB staff now have Microsoft 365 Copilot built into Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams and PowerPoint, an early step in AI in banking. A dedicated AI Centre of Excellence develops bespoke tools using Copilot Studio, and coders will soon receive GitHub Copilot to speed development.","date":"2025-07-10","source":"https://news.microsoft.com/europe/2025/07/10/aib-leading-innovation-in-irish-banking-with-enterprise-scale-deployment-of-microsoft-copilot-tools-to-simplify-work-and-empower-over-10000-employees/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ireland","org":"Department of Public Expenditure","text":"Ireland's Department of Public Expenditure launched a framework covering AI in public service: the \"Guidelines for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Public Service\". Jack Chambers presented it with a Decision Framework, a Responsible AI Canvas Tool, and free staff training. This reflects Ireland's push for responsible AI adoption in government, favouring guidance over mandates.","date":"2025-05-08","source":"https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2025/05/08/artificial-intelligence-already-in-use-in-many-parts-of-public-service-as-guidelines-are-announced/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ireland","org":"Government of Ireland","text":"Eight bodies will share EU AI Act implementation in Ireland instead of one super-regulator: the Central Bank of Ireland, the Data Protection Commission and the Health Products Regulatory Authority among them. Each already polices AI regulation in its own sector. A new AI Office of Ireland coordinates centrally from August 2026.","date":"2025-03-04","source":"https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/news-and-events/department-news/2025/march/20250305.html"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ireland","org":"Data Protection Commission","text":"Ireland's Data Protection Commission issued 'AI, Large Language Models and Data Protection' on 18 July 2024, mapping GDPR and Irish law onto large language model training and use. The guidance addresses AI data protection concerns for organisations building generative AI tools, covering fairness, lawfulness, transparency, storage limitation, data subject rights and automated decision-making.","date":"2024-07-18","source":"https://www.dataprotection.ie/en/dpc-guidance/blogs/AI-LLMs-and-Data-Protection"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ireland","org":"Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment","text":"Ireland AI regulation now has an independent advisory voice: the AI Advisory Council held its opening session with Dr Patricia Scanlon chairing. Dara Calleary founded the panel to give ministers impartial specialist input, seeking public confidence in artificial intelligence built around trustworthiness and human needs. Members will also produce their own AI policy advice tracking new developments, dangers and possibilities.","date":"2024-01-17","source":"https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/news-and-events/department-news/2024/january/17012024.html"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Ireland","org":"Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment","text":"Under Ireland AI policy, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment unveiled 'AI - Here for Good', the nation's inaugural National AI Strategy, targeting a top global position in trustworthy, human-centred artificial intelligence. Officials back an ethical, people-focused path for building, deploying and applying AI, meant to boost output, tackle social problems and upgrade public services via responsible AI adoption.","date":"2021-07-08","source":"https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-enterprise-tourism-and-employment/publications/ai-here-for-good-national-artificial-intelligence-strategy-for-ireland/"}]}