Lobbying Reform
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-17
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Timmy Dooley (FF), Clare

I thank Senator Andrews for raising this important issue and his wishes in relation to our late-night meetings. It was always good fun when I used to sit either behind or beside him. We often had good fun in those days but we have it here too.
I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to the Seanad today and I thank Senator Andrews for raising this matter, which I know is of significant importance to him. He and his late dad were great champions of so many international issues and I am pleased to see that he continues in that vein. On this issue, I take it that the Senator is referring to the omnibus on sustainability published in March 2025 and in particular to those elements relating to the corporate sustainability due diligence directive, CSDDD, and the corporate sustainability reporting directive, CSRD.
lreland supports the ongoing efforts to enhance the EU regulatory framework and welcomes the ongoing focus on ensuring that legislation is fit for purpose, with due regard to administrative and reporting burdens and with a particular focus on the impacts on smaller companies. The reform agenda is being strongly driven by EU leaders. The European Council has called for a simplification revolution by ensuring a clear, simple and smart regulatory framework for businesses, reducing administrative, regulatory and reporting burdens, and avoiding over-regulation and the introduction of administrative burdens throughout the legislative process.
Since the publication of the omnibus on sustainability, officials from the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, both in Dublin and Brussels, have engaged with a range of stakeholders concerning this proposal. These include meetings with civil society organisations and business representatives, including a recent meeting with the Irish Coalition for Business and Human Rights. The Minister, Deputy Burke, met with the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland, BPFI, last July at its request to discuss the CSRD. In September, the Minister, Deputy Burke, also spoke at an event hosted by Hanover Communications, attended by a number of representative bodies and companies, including IBEC, the American Chamber of Commerce, the Irish Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association, BPFl, Meta, Medtronic, Bristol Myers Squibb, JP Morgan and Enterprise Mobility, where the Minister provided an overview of the omnibus proposal. The Minister has not met with Teneo.
It is important to recognise that the omnibus on sustainability proposal is about finding an appropriate balance between obligations on business and ensuring adequate protections for the environment and those impacted by the operations of the companies. Negotiating positions were agreed at Council in June and by the European Parliament in November. Trilogue negotiations commenced in early December and concluded last week. We look forward to prompt adoption of the proposal at an early date in 2026.
The measures in relation to the CSRD will streamline, simplify and reduce reporting requirements. In regard to the CSDDD, in-scope companies will, for the first time, have legal obligations to conduct risk-based human rights and environmental due diligence and integrate due diligence into all corporate policies and risk management systems.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:28+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-17