Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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345. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the EU omnibus legislation which severely risks undermining critical sustainability legislation, including the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive; if he agrees that the omnibus would undermine the EU’s efforts to tackle corporate impunity and to prevent human rights and environmental abuses that disproportionately affect people in the Global South, particularly in light of government support for the CSDDD last year; his intention to act in Brussels to oppose the changes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9566/25]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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There is a particular focus on simplification and burden reduction at EU level with a view to improving EU competitiveness and ensuring there aren’t disproportionate burdens on business, particularly SMEs. This is articulated in the Letta and Draghi Reports and has informed the new European Commission and the recently published Commission’s Work Programme which proposes a series of so-called “omnibus proposals” to include an omnibus package on sustainability, investment simplification, small mid-caps and the removal of paper requirements, and a digital package.

The first omnibus on sustainability was published on 26 February 2025 and puts forward amendments to the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

My officials are carefully examining the content of the proposal in the context of improving competitiveness while seeking to strike the appropriate balance of providing effective protections for stakeholders and ensuring that the measures to be implemented by companies, and in particular SMEs, are clear, proportionate, and enforceable. I can assure the Deputy that I am, as is Government, supportive of the objectives of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive which aims to promote responsible business conduct.

My Department will engage at the appropriate working group in Brussels as discussions on the proposal progress.