Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Act 2026
Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Act 2026 (No. 31 of 2026)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force 47 days, effective 31 July 2026.
An AI governance rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 6 September 2026.
What it requires
- Comply with information requests, contravention notices and prohibition notices issued by an authorised officer of a relevant market surveillance authority in respect of an AI system you provide or deploy (Part 5).
- An administrative fine imposed on a public body for an AI Act breach is capped at EUR 1,000,000 regardless of the Article 99 tier that would otherwise apply; a fine on any other person or undertaking instead follows the EU AI Act's own Article 99 tiers (s. 105(2)-(5)).
- Do not knowingly give false or misleading information to an adjudicator, or disclose confidential material relevant to an adjudicator's finding without authorisation (ss. 95, 104).
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionNo
Criminal exposure note
Offences under ss. 36(3), 64(3), 70(10), 75(4), 89(3)(b), 95, 98(3) or 104(2): on summary conviction, a class A fine or imprisonment up to 12 months, or both; on conviction on indictment, a fine not exceeding EUR 250,000 or imprisonment up to 5 years, or both. Offences under ss. 54(2) or 89(3)(a): on summary conviction, a class A fine or imprisonment up to 6 months, or both; on indictment, a fine not exceeding EUR 50,000 or imprisonment up to 5 years, or both. Offences under ss. 58(3), 71(10) or 72(12): summary conviction only, a class A fine or imprisonment up to 6 months, or both (s. 121(1)-(3)).
Penalty structure
This EUR 1,000,000 cap applies only where an adjudicator imposes an administrative fine on a public body within the meaning of section 10 of the Data Sharing and Governance Act 2019 (s. 105(5)(a)). A fine on any other person or undertaking instead follows the tiers the EU AI Act's own Article 99 sets, which this Act's section 105(2)-(4) and (5)(b) cross-refers to without restating; those Article 99 amounts are the eu jurisdiction's finding, not this instrument's.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 6 September 2026
- Currency
- EUR
- Fixed cap
- 1,000,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Oifig IS na hÉireann (AI Office of Ireland) and the market surveillance authorities designated for the AI Act, acting through this Act's authorised-officer and adjudicator scheme.
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
This Act establishes Oifig IS na hÉireann as an independent statutory body, with its own Board and Chief Executive Officer, to give further effect to the EU AI Act in Ireland. Part 3 gives the Office the single-point-of-contact and AI register functions and creates an AI regulatory sandbox and a real-world testing regime for high-risk AI systems.
Part 4 sets general obligations on the relevant market surveillance authorities designated for the AI Act, including derogation, incident-reporting and complaints-handling duties. Parts 5 and 6 build a full supervision, adjudication and administrative-fines architecture: authorised officers may issue contravention notices, prohibition notices and forfeiture orders, and an independent adjudicator determines whether an AI Act breach occurred and what administrative fine, if any, to impose.
An administrative fine otherwise follows the ceiling the AI Act's own Article 99 sets for the type of breach, except that a fine imposed on a public body is capped at EUR 1,000,000 regardless of which Article 99 tier would otherwise apply.
Part 7 creates criminal offences, including for unauthorised disclosure of confidential information, obstructing or giving false information to an authorised officer or adjudicator, and disclosing material relevant to an adjudicator's finding without authorisation.
Parts 8 to 10 amend the Central Bank Act 1942 to give the Central Bank AI Act administrative-sanctioning powers, and make further amendments to the Communications Regulation Act 2002, the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014 and the Freedom of Information Act 2014.
When LexLint raises it
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Read the law
Irish Statute Book, official text of the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Act 2026