Malcolm Byrne

I welcome this debate. As I indicated during the discussions on Irish unity last week, we should always be open to discussing any possibilities for new constitutional arrangements or co-operation on this island or between these islands. At all stages, it is critical that the discussion be evidence based, fully transparent and honest. It cannot just be a discussion purely about the economy. It has …

As we are moving towards the recess, I thank the Ceann Comhairle, and indeed, the officials in her office and all of the staff across the House for all of their work during the year that has made this place run so smoothly. I wish to raise the question of Bunclody Community College. I have had to do it on a number of occasions. This is an excellent and very inclusive school in Bunclody, County We…

I appreciate the Minister of State is responding on behalf of the Minister but the response provides nothing new. It is almost a carbon copy of the response I received when I raised this issue in January last. We talk about the NDP allocation, and the Department's response refers to "a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs" and those who are disadvantaged. This i…

3. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister. [28399/26]

The Taoiseach is right that the bilateral relationship between Ireland and Spain is very important, as is our partnership in the EU. Following on from that point, my sister lives in Seville and every summer she travels back. She takes the ferry from Bilbao to Rosslare with my two young nieces. The challenge is because of heat. It is becoming increasingly difficult to live in parts of Spain where t…

While we have a very strong economy and, in overall terms, full employment, I am concerned about the fact that youth unemployment has now hit a rate of 10.8%. That is in the region of 37,000 young people. We are also seeing a situation now where graduate unemployment is higher than the national unemployment rate. Some of this is obviously because there is reduced hiring in consumer-facing sectors.…

9. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide an update on measures to support farm succession. [51677/26]

Given that one of the greatest challenges for Irish farming continues to be the ageing demographic and the low percentage of young people who are involved, will the Minister provide an update on measures to support farm succession and generational renewal?

I welcome the Minister's personal commitment to succession and generational renewal. He is right to say it is not just an Irish issue. He will know about the commission on generational renewal. He has been very strong on its recommendations. Some of them apply to the next round of CAP. The Minister will have to work with his fellow Ministers and with Commissioner Hansen to achieve some of those go…

I welcome that commitment. I certainly agree with the Minister. It is interesting that the European Commission's proposal aims for 24% of farmers to be new or young farmers by 2040. That is very ambitious. With regard to the strategies, we need to ensure that agriculture is sustainable. That is the kind of goal we need. I praise the work of Macra na Feirme. The Minister will be aware of how Macra …

I am sure the Minister of State will be struck that while often in these Houses when we have debates there is disagreement, this is an issue about which there is cross-party agreement and even unity. It has had an impact on every family and every community. The Minister of State is personally deeply committed to working in this area. Having these kinds of debates or discussions shows there is a lo…

I, too, welcome this debate. It is an important discussion to have in this House around what possible future constitutional arrangements we can have on this island. It is important that we set out the vision for all of the people on this island and the opportunities that may present. I sometimes think this debate can be couched in very simplistic language. A new Irish arrangement is not simply go…

I welcome and support the views expressed by Deputy Boland and I welcome the Minister's commentary. The experience has been that across Departments, the level of engagement with AI differs. Specifically when we are talking here about public sector procurement, which was mentioned, we need to explore the use of agentic AI. I want to be clear there should always be human oversight in this space but …

I ask the Minister for Public Expenditure; Infrastructure; Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the criteria applied in assessing projects under the digital public service transformation fund, including the way in which service improvement, efficiency gains and potential for wider roll-out are considered.

I welcome in particular the moves towards the digitalisation of life events. I commend the work of the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer on everything that is being done there. It is also very important not just to have the business case but that there is also the technological know-how around what it is we are hoping to achieve. One of the most critical things the Minister's Depa…

I welcome that commitment. It will be transformational. It is my own view, and I do not think it is underestimating it to say, that our records not being digitalised is probably costing our health service up to a billion euro a year in terms of delays and in the failure to be able to use some of that data towards clinical research. We need to start to talk about a campaign for when we move to that…

24. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his St. Patrick’s Day visit to the US. [22423/26]

As part of his visit, the Taoiseach visited Villanova University, a critical university in terms of Irish athletics. For the past number of years, I have had an intern from Villanova working with me. Part of the success has been around the exchanges that have happened over many years. There had been a threat to the Fulbright programme. I am glad to say it is back on schedule. Recently, as the Tao…

I commend the Minister of State on bringing the Bill to this Stage. Before I speak to the specific amendments, which are around the governance and the board structure, it is important that there has been general collaboration, both at the AI committee and, even more generally, around what we want to achieve with this transformational technology, because what we are debating and talking about here …

It is unfair to say that the Minister of State has not been listening because I think she has. What I would say to Deputy Gibney is that the legislation provides for the formal appointment by the Minister following a process, which is pretty standard. In fairness, I recall this role being advertised on publicjobs.ie. LinkedIn actually recommended it to me at one stage. The closing date for this wa…

I am proposing amendment No. 6 but it speaks to the broader set of amendments. It is about what the purpose of the artificial intelligence office is. I might thread the contentions of Deputy Murphy and Deputy Geoghegan. I agree somewhat with Deputy Murphy that if the role of this office and the ecosystem we are creating is a distributive regulatory model, our critical point is about ensuring that …

I agree with Deputy Geoghegan on that question. I appreciate the point the Minister of State made in response to my amendment but it is important to clarify what the role will be of the AI office when something falls between the designated competent authorities. I am conscious that the clock is running down, and my next point speaks to the fact that we did not get to talk to a lot of the other am…

I often wonder why are we having these statements on Pride? I reflect in many ways on my own political journey and I remember that, as a student and young person, I saw Máire Geoghegan-Quinn decriminalise homosexuality. As someone who was very closeted at the time, that had a big impact on me in terms of challenging my own thinking. My experience, even though I never hid my sexuality, was that I …

I welcome this Bill and I thank the Minister of State and her officials for the work on it. I note that there was a fairly tight timeframe for amendments so I hope, on Committee Stage, there will be consideration of some of the issues here. While I commend the Minister of State on her understanding of the implications of AI right across society, I am concerned that there are certain Departments th…

9. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Social Protection to provide an update on the wage subsidy scheme, and any incentives to support employers taking on employees with intellectual disabilities. [46367/26]