Ireland AI Bill 2026
General Scheme of the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026
Ireland's national implementation of the EU AI Act under a distributed model, designating 15 existing sectoral Market Surveillance Authorities (MSAs) and establishing a coordinating AI Office.
Jurisdiction
Ireland
Enacted
Pending
Effective
TBD
Enforcement
15 sectoral Market Surveillance Authorities coordinated by a new AI Office; Data Protection Commission for privacy-linked aspects.
General Scheme published February 2026 by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Currently in pre-legislative scrutiny by the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Formal bill drafting to follow committee report.
Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE)Why It Matters
Ireland's distributed model — using existing sectoral regulators rather than a single AI regulator — contrasts with Germany's centralized approach under KI-MIG and will be consequential given the country's role as European headquarters for major AI providers.
Recent Developments
General Scheme published February 2026; committee pre-legislative scrutiny underway. Formal bill expected later in 2026 ahead of EU AI Act deadlines.
At a Glance
Harms addressed
Who Must Comply
- Providers, deployers, importers, and distributors of AI systems placed on or used in the Irish market
Safety Provisions
- Distributed supervision model with 15 sectoral Market Surveillance Authorities
- Establishment of a national AI Office for coordination and cross-cutting functions
- Mandatory serious incident reporting for high-risk AI systems
- MSA powers extending to online distribution channels and app interfaces
- Transparency and documentation obligations aligned with EU AI Act
Compliance & Enforcement
Key Dates
Aug 2, 2026
EU AI Act deadline for national designation of market surveillance authorities
Penalties
Penalties pending regulatory determination
View on map
Ireland
Focus Areas
Cite This
APA
Ireland. (n.d.). General Scheme of the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026.
Related Regulations
Germany KI-MIG
German national law implementing the EU AI Act, designating the Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) as the lead market surveillance authority under a centralized hybrid model.
Finland AI Act
Finland's EU AI Act implementation using decentralized supervision model. Traficom serves as single point of contact and coordination authority. Ten market surveillance authorities share enforcement across sectors. New Sanctions Board handles fines over EUR 100,000.
Hungary AI Act
Hungary's comprehensive AI law implementing the EU AI Act. Designates the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) as the primary supervisory authority, with sectoral regulators for specific domains.
Ireland OSMR
Establishes Coimisiún na Meán (Media Commission) with binding duties for video-sharing platforms. One of the cleaner examples of explicit self-harm/suicide/eating-disorder content duties in platform governance.
EU DSA Minors Guidelines
Commission guidelines under DSA Article 28(1) establishing measures for online platforms to protect minors, including age assurance, default privacy settings, anti-addictive design restrictions, recommender system safeguards, and protections against grooming and exploitation.
IL HB 5511
Requires covered operators of online platforms to apply protective default settings to users they know to be minors, including limits on algorithmic feeds, a 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. notification curfew and no autoplay by default on addictive social media platforms, and establishes a device-level age-bracket signal that Internet-enabled device manufacturers must provide and operators must request. Announced by the Governor as the Children's Social Media Safety Act, the title of the bill as introduced. Enforced by the Attorney General.
Last updated April 16, 2026. Verify against primary sources before relying on this information.