Answers
EU AI Act and Irish AI regulation, answered plainly
Short, sourced answers to the questions Irish and EU organisations are actually asking as the AI Act reaches full application. Each answer cites the primary legal source.
Every answer
Each page gives a direct answer first, then the reasoning, the practical implications for an organisation, frequently asked follow-ups and links to the primary source. Nothing here is legal advice; it is governance planning material.
- AI regulation in Ireland
Who regulates AI in Ireland?
Ireland regulates AI through a distributed model: sector-specific market surveillance authorities designated under S.I. 366/2025, coordinated by the AI Office of Ireland.
- National coordination
What is the AI Office of Ireland?
The AI Office of Ireland, Oifig IS na hEireann, is the national coordinating body for AI Act implementation provided for in the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026.
- Irish legislation
What is the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026?
Ireland's Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026 establishes the national architecture for EU AI Act enforcement, including the AI Office of Ireland and authority powers.
- Timeline
What are the EU AI Act deadlines?
Every EU AI Act application date that matters: prohibitions and AI literacy from February 2025, GPAI from August 2025, full application from 2 August 2026.
- Enforcement
What are the penalties under the EU AI Act?
EU AI Act fines reach EUR 35 million or 7% of global turnover for prohibited practices, with lower tiers for other breaches and for supplying incorrect information.
- Classification
What counts as a high-risk AI system?
How Article 6 and Annex III define high-risk AI, which use cases are captured, when the Article 6(3) derogation applies, and what deployers must evidence.
- Article 5
Which AI practices are prohibited in the EU?
Article 5 bans manipulative, exploitative and certain biometric and scoring practices. What is prohibited, what is narrowly permitted, and how to screen an estate.
- Article 4
What is the AI literacy obligation in Article 4?
Article 4 requires providers and deployers to ensure a sufficient level of AI literacy among staff operating AI systems. What that means and how to evidence it.
- Article 50
What are the AI transparency obligations under Article 50?
Article 50 requires disclosure when people interact with AI, when content is synthetically generated, and when emotion recognition or biometric categorisation is used.
- Scope
Does the EU AI Act apply to my business?
How to determine EU AI Act scope: provider, deployer, importer or distributor roles, extraterritorial reach, exemptions, and the questions that settle it.
Where to go next
Answers explain the obligation. The platform pages explain how an organisation discharges it operationally, with an inventory, defensible classification, assigned controls and an audit record that survives scrutiny.
See where your organisation actually stands
A structured readiness assessment across inventory, scope, classification, controls, oversight and evidence, with the gaps ranked by regulatory exposure.
No pricing commitment. No confidential information required.