A NATIONAL representative body for the e-commerce, digital and tech sectors in Ireland has called on the government to provide greater support for Irish Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to adopt new AI technology.
Digital Business Ireland (DBI) has proposed an allowance that would cover the first year of a business' costs for deploying AI tech.
The organisation has also called for the current digital grant scheme for SMEs to be overhauled after claiming less than €30,000 has been allocated from a budget of more €5m since last September.
"Digital Business Ireland believes the government can do much more to help Irish businesses accelerate their digital transition and adoption of AI," said DBI national spokesperson DP Fitzgerald.
"However, existing supports simply do not go far enough."
Invest in tech and training
The proposals, aimed at accelerating the digital transition and the adoption of AI in Ireland, form part of DBI's pre-Budget submission for 2026.
The organisation has recommended an Accelerated Capital Allowance (ACA) for AI technologies that would cover 100 per cent of a business' AI costs in the first year of deployment of such systems.
It suggests the scheme could mirror the existing ACA for green technology and would incentivise Irish businesses to adopt new AI tech to drive greater efficiencies.
DBI also believes that the current digital grant scheme for SMEs is insufficient, with the GrowDigital Voucher only offering grant support up to €5,000.
It says that in a recent Parliamentary Question, the Department of Enterprise confirmed that the voucher had only 13 applications and six approvals since its launch in September 2024.
This amounted to €28,296.50 being given out from a budget of more than €5m allocated at the inception of the scheme.
Meanwhile, DBI has called for Increased investment in skills and training courses to further support AI development.
It has proposed a minimum of 500 places be designated specifically for AI training courses such as Springboard+, which only had 55 places on offer for AI courses last year.
The fourth and final proposal in DBI's submission is the allocation of funding for enhanced advisory and support services for businesses to ensure compliance with digital regulation.
Proposals will increase productivity
"Our pre-budget submission proposes tangible and constructive measures to support government's ambition to realise the full benefits of digitalisation, including AI," added Mr Fitzgerald.
"This in turn will increase the productivity of Irish businesses, and ensure their strategic focus is where it needs to be.
"Our proposals are aimed at turbo-charging digital transition and adoption of AI among SMEs — businesses that are the backbone of the Irish economy."
Two weeks ago, Deloitte Ireland also proposed a tax credit for businesses investing in AI and digitalisation in its pre-budget submission.
The firm said it would apply to expenditure related to the reliably safe development, implementation and use of AI and digitalisation.
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