INOU Director, Brid O'Brien and Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary
INOU Annual Delegate Conference 2025: The Risks and Potential of AI, Digitalisation and Technological Change
The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU) held its Annual Delegate Conference (ADC) on Wednesday 28th May in the Ashling Hotel in Dublin.
Dara Calleary, Minister for Social Protection and Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht opened the conference. Addressing the delegates, the Minister noted “The Government is committed to ensuring that Ireland will continue to be a global leader in the development and adoption of new digital technologies. Digitalisation and Technological Change is something that has become a driving force for my department. In addition, our Public Employment Services is learning and evaluating where Generative AI can best support the delivery of employment services to jobseekers and to employers.”
Joanne Farrell, INOU Chairperson, welcomed the Minister and delegates to the conference noting the importance of addressing the contemporary issues facing people who are unemployed, and others who are reliant on social welfare supports, in a world that is throwing up new challenges and opportunities.
The conference focussed on the potential effects of Artificial Intelligence, digitalisation and technological change on people who are unemployed, on affiliate organisations and on society as a whole. The impact, particularly of AI, on the world of work and public services has the potential to dramatically change the nature of work and accessing employment; the conference discussed these issues and their potential impacts.
Four motions were debated at the Conference including:
- The INOU General Branch calls on the Government to keep their promise to ensure that the Living Wage replaces the National Minimum Wage and to align the Living Wage with the Minimum Essential Standard of Living (MESL).
- The General Branch calls on the Government to ensure that unemployed people have access to the full range of information, services and supports that are available to them when they become unemployed or sign-on.
- The INOU calls on the Government to deliver wrap around employment and support services that really meet the needs of people who are unemployed, regardless of whether they are on a social welfare payment, and to ensure any use of AI in the public employment service involves service users in the decision-making and evaluation processes of its usage.
- The INOU demands that the Government benchmarks all social welfare rates at a level which is sufficient to lift people above the poverty line and provide them with a Minimum Essential Standard of Living; and to reverse the doubling of the penalty rate for people on a Jobseekers payment, introduced in 2024.
In the roundtable discussions at the Conference, delegates further discussed the issue of technological change across seven different topics from the perspective of their work or lived experience. The discussions will be used to inform the INOU’s 2026 pre-budget submission to Government.
The INOU also published its Annual Report for 2024 and in presenting it to the Conference delegates, Bríd O’Brien, INOU Director, noted that it contains “Comprehensive details of all the work undertaken in 2024” including:
- Supporting almost 10,000 queries via the Welfare Rights, Information and Advice Service, 7,000 of which were on welfare to work supports. This is an increase of at least 25% over the year.
- 750 people attending 11 INOU events, in addition to 11 sessions on “Conversations with Vulnerable People” in partnership with Samaritans Ireland.
- 20 training programmes delivered to over 600 participants.
- 190 people attending 6 regional discussion fora on cutting edge policy developments and in-depth discussions on operational aspects of the social welfare system.
- 5 issues of the INOU e-bulletin published.
- Increasing activity across all sections of the organisation, despite increasing costs and no increases in funding from the State in many years.
Access to the 2024 Annual Report is available here.