Ireland – EU AI Act Update

On the 6th of November, Dara Calleary, the Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company regulation (the ‘Minister’) released a refresh of Irelands National AI strategy, linked here. This document outlines the road map for how Ireland plans to implement the EU AI Act.

As of right now, there have been no announcements made identifying any national competent authorities in Ireland for the purposes of the EU AI Act. 

The most recent step taken to implement the EU AI Act was an announcement made by the Minister on the 31st of October, where nine public authorities were identified, not as national competent authorities under the EU AI Act, but as authorities that would receive additional powers to continue to carry out their responsibilities to protect fundamental rights. The press release for this announcement can be found here. The nine public authorities are: 

• An Coimisiún Toghcháin (The Electoral Commission)
• Coimisiún na Meán (The Media Commission)
• Data Protection Commission
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Financial Services & Pensions Ombudsman
• Irish Human Rights & Equality Commission
• Ombudsman
• Ombudsman for Children
• Ombudsman for the Defence Forces 

We are keeping a close eye on future announcements from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The identification of national competent bodies must be made no later than the date of the 2nd of August 2025, which is the deadline for such an announcement to be made according to the implementation timeline for the EU AI Act.