Tony McCormack (Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I thank Mr. Verdon. It gives some comfort that the smaller companies are not involved. Companies with 1,000 or more employees have the wherewithal to be able to look after the reporting and put together processes and procedures for recording this information and passing it on. It is similar for companies with 500 employees or more. I am delighted for the SMEs which are below the cap, that the reporting is not as onerous unless they are first-tier companies. As we all know, smaller companies are suffering at the moment. I am not talking about those with 500 employees but rather those with say, 100 employees. There is an awful lot of reporting back to Government agencies and various groups and organisations for them. That becomes very costly for them. We need to cut that cost and I am delighted to see that this European directive does not actually put them into it.

How will the Department support awareness training and technical readiness among the Irish companies that comply with the CSRD reporting standards?