Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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183. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the funding allocated to any measure falling under the National AI Strategy for 2023; the projected funding for 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23586/24]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland’s National AI Strategy, AI – Here for Good, was published in July 2021 and a progress report was published in August 2023.

The overall aim of the Strategy is to drive the development and adoption of trustworthy, person-centred AI for economic and societal good. It sets out actions for a range of government Departments and agencies, across seven strands:

1. AI and Society,
2. A Governance Ecosystem that Promotes Trustworthy AI,
3. Driving Adoption of AI in Irish Enterprise,
4. AI Serving the Public,
5. A Strong AI Innovation Ecosystem,
6. AI Education, Skills and Talent,
7. A Supportive and Secure Infrastructure for AI.

My Department is responsible for implementing the elements in both strategies that relate to digitalisation and AI adoption in enterprise. Growing the use of digital and AI technologies by businesses will help to build the resilience of our enterprise base as we look to future-proof our economy. For businesses, investment in digitalisation and AI adoption brings increased efficiencies, easier access to and better services for customers, and greater cybersecurity and scalability.

A coherent whole-of-Government approach is central to effective management of cross-cutting digital and AI policies and a Senior Officials Group on Digital Issues meets regularly and reports to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.

Details of the funding allocated to enterprise digitalisation and AI adoption are set out below.

The Digital Transition Fund accounts for €58 million of the €85 million in funding under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) that is focused on Digital Transformation of Enterprise, and which is funded by the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The fund is administered by Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta through a range of schemes to boost uptake of digital technology. The funding allocated in 2023 was €16 million, with a further €10.5 million allocation in 2024.

Ireland’s four European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), CeADAR, FactoryxChange, ENTIRE, and DATA2SUSTAIN are part-funded by the RRF and the Digital Europe Programme. EDIHs support the digital transformation of enterprise, in particular SMEs, and public sector organisations either for free or at a reduced cost. The EDIHs act as “one stop shops” providing access to technical expertise and experimentation, financing advice, training and skills, and information on the innovation ecosystem and networking.

Participation in the EU network of hubs will also encourage the adoption of the latest advances in the three key digital technologies of Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence and High-Performance Computing. CeADAR is Ireland’s EDIH for AI, and specialises in enabling the uptake of AI and data analytics. The funding allocated to support this activity in 2023 was €6m, and a further €4.9m was allocated for 2024.

The Network of 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) support small businesses to attain basic digital intensity to help them to grow and increase productivity. Supports for digitalisation available through LEOs include,

• Trading Online Voucher, worth up to €2,500 with 50% co-funding by the applicant. €3 million was allocated to businesses under the scheme in 2023, and €3.3 million in 2024.
• Digital for Business scheme, designed for businesses with up to 50 employees in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors, to support preparation and implementation of a plan for the adoption of digital tools and techniques. €982,900 was allocated to businesses under the scheme in 2023, and €1.165 million in 2024.

The Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF), established in 2018, is one of four National Development Plan (NDP) 2018-2027 funds, and is aimed at encouraging collaboration and innovation in the development and deployment of disruptive technologies on a commercial basis, in order to tackle national and global challenges. It is managed by my Department and administered by Enterprise Ireland. Although not exclusively focused on digital technologies, the fund encourages projects that complement the priority enterprise policy objective on digital transformation as set out in the White Paper on Enterprise and nearly half (44%) of the funding allocated so far has been to projects with an AI element.

DTIF has a particular focus on SMEs, with SME participation a mandatory requirement for each collaborative project. Six DTIF Calls for Projects have been held to date, ranging in value from €8 million to €95 million, with a total of €365 million allocated to 103 collaborative projects to date. €61 million was allocated in 2023 and €42.5 million in 2024.

A seventh DTIF Call is now open for applications, with a closing date of 30 April 2025, and details are available on my Department's website.