National digital and AI strategy to be updated
As outlined in the Programme for Government (PfG), the Government is set to update the National Digital and AI strategy to solidify its digital ambitions.
As part of the PfG, Securing Ireland’s Future, the Government committed to making Ireland a “centre of expertise for digital and data regulation alongside being a regulatory hub for companies operating across the EU Digital Single Market”.
Productivity in Irish businesses is to be improved through digitalisation, including AI, while online public services are to see improvements in efficiency through digitalisation, particularly in healthcare.
An e-inclusion strategy is to be launched to help improve digital skills and “ensure no one is left behind by the move to a digital society”. Investments will be made in basic literacy skills alongside complex training in AI and quantum computing. Businesses are encouraged to use the new grow digital portal to assist in digitalisation.
AI deployment, innovation, and support will be provided through education and learning networks, and research will be carried out on the impact of digitalisation in classrooms, with the aim of unlocking the potential of AI in education.
“We will continue to build on Ireland’s longstanding reputation as a technology hub to become a vibrant location for AI innovation.”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD
Collaboration with EU partners regarding innovation will be supported alongside the implementation of the EU Online Safety Framework to help tackle disinformation and protect vulnerable groups.
By 2026, 1.1 million people will have high-speed fibre broadband with mobile and internet blackspots being addressed.
Remote working hubs are to be expanded with support learning and career learning will be supported through connecting hubs.
The current strategy, Harnessing Digital: The Digital Ireland Framework was first launched in 2022. Increased usage of digital technology during the Covid-19 pandemic led to the Government creating the framework to enable a digital transformation across the economy and wider society.
Goals include full 5G coverage, 80 per cent of adults with basic digital skills, and 90 per cent of public services conducted online. Small businesses will be issued grants and assistance in upgrading digital consumption to enable 90 per cent of small and medium enterprise to conducted at basic digital intensity, with 75 per cent enterprise take up in cloud, big data, and AI. All of this is to be achieved by 2030.
The Government states that the updated strategy will further promote the Government’s vision of “maximising the opportunities afforded by AI and maintain the State’s position as a global digital leader”.
It will enable the acceleration of domestic AI capabilities with a key focus on public service reform and delivery. It builds on previous commitments and promises.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD has committed to “ensuring Ireland continues to be a digital leader in Europe, and globally”.
“Given the pace and scale of impact of AI and other new technologies, we need to significantly accelerate the digitalisation of enterprise, public services, and the wider economy.
“We will continue to build on Ireland’s longstanding reputation as a technology hub to become a vibrant location for AI innovation.”
Artificial intelligence
Created in 2020, generative AI burst onto the news agenda following the release of ChatGPT in 2022 with the promise to transform lives and business alike.
In response to this, the National AI Strategy was launched as a blueprint for AI expansion. It attempts to explore innovation while remaining alert to ethical considerations.
Under the aegis of the strategy, Patricia Scanlon was appointed as Ireland’s first AI ambassador with the goal of “demystifying AI” and to lead “a meaningful engagement with the public on the governance and use of AI”.
Since then, Irish business has embraced AI, with research from PwC, reported in The Irish Times with 67 per cent of business leaders reporting AI adoption as of December 2024, with 86 per cent believing AI will have a positive effect on the Irish economy in the near future.
AI Minister, Niamh Smyth TD, writing in eolas Magazine in May 2025, described AI as “transformative force that has the potential to reshape our economy, society, and daily lives.
“The benefits are clear. AI is a powerful tool that can future-proof business, help enterprise to remain competitive, transform business processes, and improve productivity.”
