The Health Information and Quality Authority has said that any use of new AI technology in the health system must be deemed safe and trustworthy before use.<\/p>\n
The health watchdog has issued the first national guidance for responsible and safe use of AI in the health and social services.<\/p>\n
HIQA said that AI is already being used to streamline administrative tasks, to support diagnostics by identifying patterns in scans and predicting outcomes, which can enable preventative measures.<\/p>\n
It said that accountability is the foundation for the responsible use of AI.<\/p>\n
The agency said that there must be robust governance and clear lines of accountability where AI is used, to ensure that patient care remains person-centred.<\/p>\n
HIQA’s Director of Health Information and Standards Rachel Flynn said that as AI becomes increasingly embedded in health services, the national guidance provides practical direction to harness opportunities while ensuring that patient safety, transparency and accountability remain at the forefront.<\/p>\n
The guidance was commissioned by the Department of Health.<\/p>\n
Ms Flynn said accountability is one of the key features of new guidance issued by the Department of Health on AI use.<\/p>\n
She said AI is being used already within the health and social care system, in areas such as radiology, where it allows for CTs to be read in a “more rapid way” and “alert clinicians to abnormalities”.<\/p>\n
It is also being used in consultations with doctors to take notes and assist in clinical decision making. She said it is very much a tool to assist in these efficiencies.<\/p>\n
Speaking on RT\u00c9’s Today with David McCullagh, Ms Flynn said that in Ireland, “we predominantly rely on paper-based systems”, adding that there are not a lot of electronic health systems within the overall system.<\/p>\n
“There is a procurement out for a national electronic health record and that AI will be embedded within those systems to deliver health and social care “more effectively”.<\/p>\n
She said there will be an increase in the use of AI as more IT systems are deployed.<\/p>\n
She said the guidance issued by the Department of Health talks about what needs to be in place to deploy AI safely and responsibly.<\/p>\n
Ms Flynn said accountability is one of the key features within the guidance.<\/p>\n
“The person that deploys and uses the AI system is responsible.<\/p>\n
“It is very necessary that they understand how it is being used within their service.<\/p>\n
Accountability features really heavily on that factor,” she said.<\/p>\n
HIQA said that AI use will be guided by the EU AI Act, which outlines legislative responsibilities when using AI across all sectors, including health and social care.<\/p>\n
Ms Flynn said it is important to understand your legal obligations under legislation such as the EU AI Act and a national AI act being developed.<\/p>\n
Ireland has developed legislation to provide for the full implementation of the EU AI Act at a national level.<\/p>\n
The Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026 passed through the Seanad on 15 July.<\/p>\n
The purpose of the Bill is to support the establishment of the AI Office of Ireland, outline Ireland\u2019s AI regulatory structures, designate the competent authorities and implement the EU AI Act, consistently without adding national requirements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Health Information and Quality Authority has said that any use of new AI technology in the health…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[103,397,396,61,60],"class_list":["post-573674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}