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RTÉ News
08-07-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Ireland considering hosting global AI summit
The Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence is expected to hear today that the Government is giving consideration to Ireland hosting a Global AI Summit next year, similar to an event which was held in Paris in February. The AI Action Summit saw world leaders, tech CEOs and academics gathering to discuss how to safely embrace AI. The conference highlighted the divisions that exist between the EU and the US when it comes to the regulation of the technology. The AI Committee will today hear from the Minister of State for Trade Promotion, AI and Digital Transformation Niamh Smyth. "We look forward to engaging with the Minister about her plans for Ireland's EU Presidency and how Ireland can lead on AI innovation globally," said Cathaoirleach of the Committee Malcolm Byrne. Ms Smyth will also discuss Ireland's National AI Strategy "AI: Here For Good," which was published in 2021 and updated in November 2024. The EU Artificial Intelligence Act, and its implementation in Ireland, is also on the agenda. "The Committee looks forward to discussing the strategy and the EU AI Act in depth and the implementation of stringent conditions on AI systems for this revolutionary technology to work effectively in areas such as biometric identification, decision-making for public and private services and benefits and machinery," Mr Byrne said.
Irish Independent
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Wicklow-Wexford chair of AI committee wants it to ‘lead public debate' on new tech
Chair of the new Oireachtas committee on artificial intelligence (AI), Deputy Malcolm Byrne, has said the committee aims to 'lead public debate' on the merits of the new technology and that it will explore the necessary 'guardrails' to ensure its safe use in the healthcare, education and energy sectors. Led by Wicklow-Wexford TD Malcolm Byrne, the AI committee – like other Oireachtas committees – will advise the Houses of the Oireachtas, receive submissions and presentations from members of the public, interest groups and government departments, while scrutinising government expenditure and debating proposed legislation. Encouraging individuals and interested organisations to submit views on issues they would like to see investigated, Deputy Byrne said the groundbreaking technology could make the delivery of public services more efficient, improve healthcare outcomes and 'speed up many of the mundane tasks in many jobs', but cautioned there will be challenges, and 'guardrails must be in place to ensure AI is designed and used safely'. 'The first public meeting of the committee took place last week, and the 14-member body will be examining issues in modular form from the autumn, looking at themes such as AI and healthcare, AI and education and AI and Energy,' the Fianna Fáil deputy said. 'I was honoured to be asked to Chair this Committee as how technology affects our lives really interests me, and I had been pushing to get such a committee established during the last Oireachtas 'There are a number of organisations and companies in Wicklow and Wexford already using AI in their processes, and it will soon be essential that everyone has some knowledge of this new tech.'
Irish Times
24-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Civil service grows by 50 per cent in last decade
The number of civil servants has increased by nearly 50 per cent in the past decade, according to figures released by the Department of Public Expenditure . The numbers of civil servants have increased in all grades but it is at the middle-ranking grades where the increases have been biggest. There are just under 53,000 civil servants employed by the State, the figures show, a subset of the more than 400,000 people who work in the broader public service. That shows an increase of more than 50 per cent from the 36,000 civil servants in the State in 2015, though that number had declined from the 2000s during the years of austerity. READ MORE The rate of increase in the Civil Service is higher than the public service more generally, which has seen numbers grow from about 300,000 in 2015 to more than 400,000 today. Figures supplied to the Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne show there were 30 secretaries general in 2015, plus four second secretaries general. Today there are 37 secretaries general and no second secretaries. There were 20 deputy secretaries general in 2015 and 22 today; and 224 assistant secretaries in 2015, and 281 today. The number of principal officers has increased from 1,281 to 2,061; assistant principals from 3,568 to 6,816; higher executive officers from 4,424 to 7,161; administrative officers from 2,029 to 3,726 and executive officers from 5,981 to 11,526. Annual salaries for secretaries general range from €245,000 to €275,000; assistant secretaries from €166,000 to €190,000, principal officers from €104,000 to €139,000, and higher executive officers from €58,000 to €75,000. After several years of austerity in the wake of the financial crisis, the government had begun to roll back public sector pay cuts and the headcount reductions in many areas of the public service by the end of 2015. In the period since, there has been a rapid expansion of public sector numbers, while pay levels have also rebounded quickly for public servants. In part this was a response to the end of the austerity years, but it was also a response to population growth and the consequent demands on public services. The numbers of healthcare workers, teachers and other providers of public services have all increased considerably. The total public sector pay bill has almost doubled in the 10 years since 2015. 'We are a country that is growing rapidly and government is more complex so we need a Civil Service to match. But we also need to ensure that increases in numbers result in increases in productivity and efficiency,' Mr Byrne said. 'More and better civil servants should help us prepare for housing delivery as well as ensuring we have the necessary digital and energy infrastructure for the future, not trying to force government into binary choices.'
Irish Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Phantom cigarette puffer of Merrion Street prompts chortles in Dáil
What was that thing Gerry Adams said about informers in those slithery years before his beatification? Ah yes. 'The consequence for informing is death.' Thankfully, times are much different now. There are other ways of putting manners on people. READ MORE But still, a worried Micheál Martin – no sainted stalwart of the republican struggle – will be watching his back in coming days and weeks. Because nobody likes a political snitch either. (That's not strictly true. Some of us love them.) And after what the Taoiseach said in the Dáil chamber on Wednesday afternoon, we hear one of his own Ministers is out to kill him. But who? And why? It all kicked off with a very worthy contribution from Fianna Fáil 's Malcolm Byrne during questions on policy. Deputy Byrne reminded Micheál that the previous government agreed to introduce further laws regulating nicotine-inhaling products such as vapes, including restrictions on advertising, colours, flavours and imagery. The commitment is also in the programme for government. Any sign of this Bill? 'This is a public-health emergency,' said Malcolm, pointing to a recent survey of young people in Northern Ireland that found that 76 per cent of respondents had never smoked a cigarette before they started using vapes. He finished with a suggestion for the Taoiseach. In line with the example set by public institutions such as universities and the like 'maybe yourself and the Ceann Comhairle might agree that Leinster House would become a tobacco-free campus'. Steady on, Malcolm. Many of your colleagues are living on their nerves as it is. Some of the most senior TDs and senators, from across the political spectrum, are sneaky smokers. But Malcolm was pushing an open door here. Micheál is rightly proud of his record in this area. When he was minister for health back in 2004 he introduced the world's first statewide smoking ban, a landmark piece of public-health legislation. Don't get him going on the subject of the ciggies. Too late. Well, Malcolm. Now that you say it... A delighted-looking Micheál turned around to spill the beans to his deputy for Wicklow-Wexford. 'I spotted an errant Minister yesterday as I looked out a window, who had assured me that he had given up cigarettes and cigarette smoking,' he grinned, almost hugging himself with glee. 'Eh, he was caught red-handed as I looked out the window, but anyway, heh-heh...' Red-handed, no less. Oh, but he was only thrilled, slapping his hands flat against his two jacket pockets as if proclaiming to the world that you'll never, ever, find a packet of fags in either one of them. 'Pressure of the job, Taoiseach,' interjected the kindly Ceann Comhairle, in mitigation of the unknown Minister. 'But it was a funny moment, ha-ha-ha,' chortled Micheál, still cracking up at the thought of it. 'Pressure of the job, heh-heh, yeah...' Somewhere on the campus, a certain Minister's ears must have been burning like yesterday's surreptitious ciggie. As for Malcolm's question, the Taoiseach said Minister of State Mary Butler was making progress on the legislation, which has 'some European dimension to it' but the Government is anxious to get it done as quickly as possible. But for now, he couldn't give a timeline for the Bill. As for making Leinster House a no-smoking campus, that is a matter for the Houses of the Oireachtas commission to examine. He urged those TDs and senators who still smoke to give it up. Needless to say, speculation immediately turned to the phantom puffer of Merrion Street. Who could it be? Obviously, it couldn't be a female minister because the one the Taoiseach 'caught red-handed' was a 'he'. Although that doesn't help much because a mere three women are senior Ministers. That only leaves 11 suspects as Micheál was clearly referring to a Cabinet member. One Minister was immediately in the frame. He likes to step out of his office on occasion and take the air on the North Road, which runs along Government Buildings on the Leinster House side. This has always been the place where the Ministers who don't smoke smoke and where the famous glass 'Bridge of Sighs' runs overhead, connecting both buildings. We contacted Darragh O'Brien , who immediately denied the charge. His daughter would kill him if she knew he was out smoking on the sly. 'So would his wife,' said a well-placed informant. Luckily for him, the Taoiseach said he was looking out the window when he caught the ministerial puffer in the act. Micheál cannot see the North Road from his window. There is only one other senior Minister with an office near him and that is the non-smoking Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Harris , who occupies the suite below. Simon would have had to be hanging out his window at an extremely dangerous angle with a ciggie dangling from his fingers for the Taoiseach to catch a glimpse. But wait. Micheál can see the courtyard of Government Buildings from his eyrie. And, on the day in question (Tuesday), both Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers and Minister for Housing James Browne were in that same courtyard for media briefings. It is highly unlikely that Jack, a medical doctor among other things, would have been smoking unless he was trying to look edgy. As for James Browne. He too is a non-smoker. Or at least he was a non-smoker until Micheál gave him the housing hospital pass and now he's on 60 Major a day and eating nicotine pouches for breakfast. Patrick O'Donovan? He smokes all right, but it only comes out of his ears when he talks to arty folk and people from RTÉ. Jim O'Callaghan? He may be an SC, but his Silk Cut is that of the senior counsel. Martin Heydon? No. Dara Calleary? No. James Lawless? No. What about Paschal Donohoe? 'When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth' said Sherlock Holmes. Except when it comes to Paschal – I keep my youthful dimples by not smoking, thank you very much – Donohoe. Let us look again at a crucial line from Micheál's Dáil bombshell. 'I spotted an errant Minister as I looked out a window...' Notice he said was looking out 'a window' not 'his' window or 'my' window. Because – and we now know this for a fact – he was not in his office when the sighting of the Minister occurred. Because the Taoiseach was, in fact, on the Bridge of Sighs! Not only that, my friends, but he was crossing the Bridge of Sighs with a large entourage, including a delegation from the Cork Chamber of Commerce who were up in the big schmoke for dinner with the Taoiseach when they saw a Minister who likes to take the air on the North Road down below them having a big schmoke. Not only that, but several witnesses will confirm that Micheál banged on the window when he saw this politician out on the North Road dragging away. 'He startled him mid-puff,' said one. 'He wagged his finger at him as well,' said another. We are not sure if a finger was raised in reply. That wouldn't be the Malahide way. Darragh O'Brien is going to have to kill Micheál now. Or at least put manners on him, the way St Gerry did with the BBC. Otherwise his daughter is going to have his guts for garters and the missus will absolutely burst him. That's if it was Darragh O'Brien, who is still saying it definitely was not him. Because he has definitely given up the ciggies. And that's what he definitely told Micheál. Justice for the Mallyer One. Please let there be a court case.
Irish Independent
09-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Progress finally made on Wexford planned primary care centre after major delays
Deputy Malcolm Byrne raised the planned new Primary Care Centre in Gorey directly with the Taoiseach's office recently. As a result, Deputy Byrne was informed on 16 May, that the HSE Dublin South & East Health Region have submitted the Schedule of Accommodation to HSE Estates. The Schedule of Accommodation is due to go to HSE Estates' Property Review Group (PRG) in the coming days and it is anticipated that Invitation to Tender for Gorey PCC will be posted on -E-Tenders at the earliest opportunity once PRG approval is obtained. Once tender offers have been received, all offers will be reviewed, and a contract will be awarded in line with public procurement regulations. Upon completion of the tender process, the location/site/building of the Primary Care Centre can be confirmed. It is currently not possible to provide an estimated timeline for the construction of this project in advance of the contract being awarded and regulatory approvals (including planning approval). The tender process for this project was first undertaken almost a decade ago and a Preferred Provider had been selected. Unfortunately, the selected Preferred Provider encountered difficulties regarding the economic viability of the proposed project resulting in the collapse of this process. To facilitate the re-advertisement of this Primary Care Centre, a full review of the current and future health service needs for Gorey area was undertaken with relevant stakeholders. A scope was also identified based on the updated health service requirements with a view to finalising a Schedule of Accommodation for Gorey Primary Care Centre.
