{"id":11258,"date":"2025-08-20T09:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T09:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/11258\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T09:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T09:27:07","slug":"ai-needed-to-help-irelands-infrastructure-withstand-climate-disasters-deloitte-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/11258\/","title":{"rendered":"AI needed to help Ireland\u2019s infrastructure withstand climate disasters \u2013 Deloitte \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A powerful set of available AI<\/a> tools will help improve the resilience of much of Ireland\u2019s ageing infrastructure, which is increasingly exposed due to increased floods, storms and other climate-related disasters, according to consultancy firm Deloitte<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The newly reviewed National Development Plan <\/a>(NDP) \u201coffers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to future-proof Ireland\u2019s infrastructure\u201d but AI needs to be widely deployed, said Stephen Prendiville, Deloitte Ireland\u2019s infrastructure and sustainability lead. <\/p>\n

He was commenting on a global report published on Wednesday, which finds AI-enabled infrastructure resilience could help prevent about \u20ac65 billion in annual damage worldwide by 2050 \u2013 about 15 per cent of projected global losses due to natural disasters. A specific figure for Ireland is not given. <\/p>\n

With \u20ac275 billion planned in the NDP through to 2035, Mr Prendiville said, \u201cwe have the capital needed. We now need to move forward at pace, with smarter planning and data-driven decision-making. AI is rapidly transitioning from being experimental to being an important part of the solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the right vision and collaboration, [AI] can help leaders build infrastructure that\u2019s stronger, more efficient, more sustainable and future ready, helping ensure future disruptions are less severe or can be more easily mitigated,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

The report by Deloitte\u2019s Centre for Sustainable Progress outlines how AI technologies can play a role at every stage of infrastructure life cycles, from planning and prevention to \u201crapid post-event recovery\u201d. <\/p>\n

In urban and regional planning, AI-powered digital predictive models can now support better land use via land elevation data, soil saturation and urban density, it finds. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, machine learning can power early warning systems for floods, helping authorities reduce human and economic impacts, while AI-enabled inspection tools can speed up damage assessments and accelerate infrastructure repair, minimising costs and economic disruption, the report says. <\/p>\n

From storm-related power outages to repeated flooding, Mr Prendiville said Irish infrastructure was increasingly vulnerable to climate impacts. \u201cNew stresses are now also emerging with more extreme temperatures being experienced as a rule in summer and winter.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Climate scientists to receive \u20ac2.8m for flood future-proofing projectsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

A Deloitte survey warned earlier this year that climate change could cost the Irish insurance industry up to \u20ac1.5 billion over the next decade, driven by more frequent extreme weather events. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe found the availability and rising cost of reinsurance was one of the biggest challenges for Irish insurers offering flood-risk cover,\u201d said Noel Garvey, an actuary with Deloitte Ireland. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf AI, predictive analytics and shared climate intelligence can give governments, scientists, insurers and services the foresight to act earlier, respond faster and recover more effectively, it can turn what are often devastating losses into more manageable challenges, keep more people safe and costs down,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Technology and data were as critical as physical flood defences in protecting against extreme weather events, he said. <\/p>\n

Storm \u00c9owyn earlier this year resulted in insurance claims of more than \u20ac300 million. \u201cThe cascading impacts of persistent power failure, exacerbating the lack of water and telecom service during this time, must be a wake-up call for authorities when it comes to the resilience of our infrastructure,\u201d Mr Garvey said. <\/p>\n

\u201cMet \u00c9ireann has already set out its ambition to move beyond broad, countrywide weather alerts and towards more localised, geo-specific warning systems,\u201d Mr Prendiville added. \u201cWith the integration of AI and enhanced data and analytics, these forecasts could be made far more precise.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A powerful set of available AI tools will help improve the resilience of much of Ireland\u2019s ageing infrastructure,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[261],"tags":[291,289,290,442,10914,18,1954,10916,19,3912,17,5602,10915,960,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-11258","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-climate-change","12":"tag-deloitte","13":"tag-eire","14":"tag-extreme-weather","15":"tag-floods","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-insurance","18":"tag-ireland","19":"tag-met-eireann","20":"tag-national-development-plan","21":"tag-storm-eowyn","22":"tag-technology"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}