Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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51. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 77 of 15 September 2022, if he will provide details of any engagement that he has had at European Union-level with regard to the forthcoming corporate sustainability reporting Directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53811/22]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive has completed its development at EU level and political agreement was achieved between the European Parliament and the Council in June 2022. Formal approval of the Directive is anticipated before the end of this year and Member States will have 18 months to transpose the new rules.

Ireland consistently maintained a positive and supportive position on the proposal. The Directive is one of a number of measures under the European Green Deal and the Sustainable Finance Agenda. It requires large companies, banks, insurance undertakings and companies listed on main stock markets including SMEs to report annually on their performance in respect of environment, social and governance matters including human rights. The reporting itself must be done according to mandatory EU sustainability standards which are being developed by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG).

Officials in my Department have commenced work on the transposition of the Directive, and it is intended that a stakeholder forum will be held in early 2023. The forum, which follows a similar event in May 2021 following the publication of the proposal, will be used to inform stakeholders further of the Directive and launch a public consultation on the transposition of Member State options.