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Good practice Imported

Ireland's Guidelines for the Responsible Use of AI in the Public Service

Ireland · Dublin · See the Ireland profile · See the Dublin profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 24% 73/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Ireland's May 2025 guidelines set seven principles, a Decision Framework and a 'Responsible AI Canvas' for public bodies considering AI, and require each to keep an inventory of the AI systems it runs, ahead of a statutory AI Office and 15 sector regulators due in August 2026.

15
Competent authorities coordinated under the AI Office

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation
Period
2025-ongoing
Keywords
public administration, digital government, AI governance

Context

On 8 May 2025, Ireland's Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (DPER) launched Guidelines for the Responsible Use of AI in the Public Service, applying across the entire Irish Public Service.

Activities

The Guidelines set out seven principles — human agency and oversight, technical robustness and safety, privacy and data governance, transparency, diversity/non-discrimination/fairness, societal and environmental well-being, and accountability — and give public bodies a Decision Framework, a 'Responsible AI Canvas', lifecycle guidance and use-case examples, with bodies told to build an inventory of the AI systems they run.

Results

The Guidelines are a bridge to statutory footing: Ireland's Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026 (published 17 June 2026) creates an AI Office of Ireland with enforcement powers from 1 August 2026, coordinating fifteen named competent authorities including the Central Bank and the Data Protection Commission.

Conclusions

As guidance rather than binding law, adherence depends on voluntary uptake, and DPER has not published figures on how many bodies have completed an AI inventory or Decision Framework assessment — the practice is evidenced by policy design and institutional follow-through rather than measured compliance.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills
DPER policy team, Planned AI Office of Ireland (from Aug 2026)

Conditions for success

  • Clear principles plus practical tools (Decision Framework, Responsible AI Canvas)
  • Statutory follow-through via the 2026 AI Bill
  • Named competent authorities for enforcement

Common failure modes

  • No published data on how many public bodies have completed an inventory or assessment

Commonly funded by

Digital Europe Programme National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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