Ireland - AI Act Implementation (366/2025)

Overview

S.I. No. 366/2025 — European Union (Artificial Intelligence) (Designation) Regulations 2025 — is the Irish statutory instrument that formally designates national competent authorities and the national single point of contact under Article 70 of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689). The Regulations were signed by the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment on 25 July 2025 and published in Iris Oifigiúil on 29 July 2025. They adopt a distributed implementation model that makes use of existing sectoral market surveillance authorities while designating the Minister as the single point of contact to coordinate with the European Commission and other member states. The instrument lists the market surveillance authorities assigned to specific Annex I points and sets out which bodies are notifying authorities for Union harmonisation legislation. The official text is available on the Irish Statute Book. S.I. No. 366/2025 (print view). ([irishstatutebook.ie](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2025/en/si/0366.html))

Definitions

The Regulations adopt definitions from the AI Act and specify that terms used in the instrument carry the same meaning as in Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 unless otherwise stated. Key defined concepts include: "Artificial Intelligence Regulation" (the AI Act), "Minister" (Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment), "Marine Survey Office" (the part of the Department of Transport so named), "notifying authority" (bodies specified for the purposes of Article 28 of the AI Act), and "market surveillance authority" (bodies designated for specific Annex I points per Article 74). The Regulations make clear that references to numbered Articles and Annexes relate to the AI Act. The text therefore functions as a designation instrument rather than a substantive restatement of the AI Act's rules. ([irishstatutebook.ie](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2025/en/si/0366.html))

Governance and Institutional Framework

The instrument implements a distributed governance model: existing sectoral regulators are designated as national competent authorities for the purposes of the AI Act, while the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment is given a coordinating role as national competent authority and the single point of contact. The Schedule to S.I. No. 366/2025 maps Annex I points and Union harmonisation legislation to named market surveillance authorities or notifying authorities (for example, the Central Bank of Ireland is designated as a market surveillance authority for Article 74(6) functions; the Data Protection Commission is designated for Article 74(8) functions). The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has published explanatory material describing the distributed model and the intention to create a National AI Office (NAIO) to centralise coordination, expertise and an innovation/regulatory sandbox in due course. Stakeholders should therefore expect a hybrid model where sectoral regulators retain primary supervisory responsibilities while national coordination is provided by the Minister/NAIO. DETE: EU AI Act (Ireland). ([irishstatutebook.ie](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2025/en/si/0366.html))

Key Focus Areas

S.I. No. 366/2025 focuses on several core implementation tasks required by the EU AI Act: (1) identification of at least one notifying authority and market surveillance authority per Member State; (2) mapping of Annex I points and applicable Union harmonisation legislation to national market surveillance authorities; (3) designation of a market surveillance authority to act as the single point of contact (the Minister); and (4) ensuring publication of contact details and communication channels to meet the AI Act requirement that competent authorities and points of contact be electronically contactable by 2 August 2025. The Regulations thereby address governance, market surveillance assignment, inter-agency coordination and public transparency. The distributed model aims to leverage sectoral expertise (financial regulation, health products, workplace safety, communications, transport and consumer protection) while providing a central interface for EU and cross-border coordination. The instrument does not itself create sector-specific substantive obligations under the AI Act (those derive directly from the AI Act) nor does it by itself establish the enforcement tools or national penalty regimes required by Article 99; those are to be implemented through further national measures and legislative steps. ([ai-act-service-desk.ec.europa.eu](https://ai-act-service-desk.ec.europa.eu/en/ai-act/article-70?utm_source=openai))

Implementation Framework

The Regulations operate as a designation instrument: they name competent and market surveillance authorities, identify notifying authorities for specified Union harmonisation legislation, and establish the Minister as the single point of contact. Implementation steps following the SI include (a) publication and maintenance of contact information for NCAs and the single point of contact (deadline 2 August 2025 under Article 70); (b) inter-agency coordination arrangements, information-sharing and technical support via the planned NAIO or other memoranda of understanding; (c) annual assessment and updating of competence and resource needs as required by the AI Act; and (d) notification to the European Commission of designated authorities and any subsequent changes. The Government has signalled that additional instruments or amendments (and primary legislation to establish the NAIO) will follow to provide a full operational architecture and enforcement powers. For practical compliance, regulated entities should identify the competent authority for their sector (as listed in the Schedule) and direct inquiries and notifications accordingly. ([irishstatutebook.ie](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2025/en/si/0366.html))

Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring under the Regulations will be undertaken by the designated market surveillance authorities in their respective sectors, and by the single point of contact for cross-cutting coordination with the Commission and other Member States. The AI Act requires Member States to ensure NCAs have adequate technical, financial and human resources and to annually assess and, if necessary, update resource requirements; S.I. No. 366/2025 implements the designation step that enables that resourcing and assessment process. Performance and compliance monitoring will include complaints handling, incident reporting, post-market surveillance, cooperation with EU-level bodies (including the EU AI Office where relevant), and annual reporting obligations such as notifications about national fines or enforcement measures once national penalty rules are laid down. Inter-agency data-sharing and confidentiality protections (Article 78 of the AI Act) will also shape monitoring arrangements. ([ai-act-service-desk.ec.europa.eu](https://ai-act-service-desk.ec.europa.eu/en/ai-act/article-70?utm_source=openai))

Penalties, Liability, and Appeals

S.I. No. 366/2025 itself is a designation instrument and does not set the monetary penalties for infringements of the AI Act. Article 99 of the AI Act requires Member States to lay down rules on penalties and enforcement measures (including warnings and non-monetary measures) and sets maximum EU-level ceilings for certain infringements (e.g., up to €35,000,000 or up to 7% of total worldwide annual turnover for prohibitions in Article 5; up to €15,000,000 or up to 3% of turnover for other specified breaches; and up to €7,500,000 or up to 1% of turnover for supplying incorrect information). Member States must notify the Commission of national penalty regimes by the AI Act’s date of application and ensure appropriate procedural safeguards and remedies. Ireland’s national penalty rules and enforcement architecture will be established through subsequent national instruments or primary legislation; until then, stakeholders should note the AI Act’s penalty framework and the role of the designated NCAs in enforcement once national rules are in place. ([ai-act-service-desk.ec.europa.eu](https://ai-act-service-desk.ec.europa.eu/en/ai-act/article-99?utm_source=openai))

Relationship to Other Instruments

S.I. No. 366/2025 sits within a suite of EU and national instruments: it gives domestic effect to Article 70 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (the AI Act). It complements other national measures (such as sectoral regulatory frameworks) by mapping AI Act obligations to existing market surveillance and sectoral regulators. S.I. No. 366/2025 will interact with national data protection legislation and the GDPR (notably where AI systems process personal data — the Data Protection Commission is designated as a market surveillance authority for relevant functions), product safety and sector-specific rules (health products, consumer safety, transport safety), and forthcoming Irish primary legislation to establish the NAIO and to set out enforcement/penalty rules. The Schedule to the Regulations explicitly cross-references Annex I points and specified Union harmonisation legislation to ensure legal alignment. ([irishstatutebook.ie](https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2025/en/si/0366.html))

International Alignment

The Regulations implement an EU-level governance requirement and therefore align Ireland with the EU AI Act’s pan-European framework. The designation of a single point of contact ensures Ireland can be included in the Commission’s list of national single points of contact and supports cross-border cooperation, enforcement coordination, and information exchange with other Member States. The distributed national model mirrors approaches taken by some other Member States that have relied on sectoral regulators for domain-specific expertise while maintaining central coordination. Ireland’s approach is intended to be interoperable with EU requirements (contact publication deadlines, resource and competence standards, cybersecurity expectations) and to position Ireland for transnational cooperation on high-risk systems and market surveillance. AI Act — Article 70 (service desk). ([ai-act-service-desk.ec.europa.eu](https://ai-act-service-desk.ec.europa.eu/en/ai-act/article-70?utm_source=openai))

Implementation Timeline

Sources and References