Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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71. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on the proposed omnibus amendments to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD); the safeguards that are in place to mitigate the potential negative impact of removing thousands of companies from their CSRD responsibilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34994/25]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Currently, at EU level, there is a particular focus on regulatory simplification and burden reduction, with a view to improving EU competitiveness and avoiding disproportionate burdens on business, particularly SMEs. This is articulated in the Letta and Draghi Reports and has informed the European Commission’s recently published Work Programme which proposes a series of “Omnibus" proposals. The first Omnibus dealing with sustainability matters was published on 26 February 2025 and proposes amendments to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Included in this Omnibus is the so-called “Stop-the-Clock” Directive which postpones the dates for certain corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements. Consideration of the content aspects of the proposal is ongoing at EU level. My Department is continuing to assess the implications as these discussions progress.

Proposed changes to the CSRD include the limiting of reporting to large companies with over 1,000 employees, streamlining the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) data requirements, removing sector-specific standards, and delaying reporting deadlines for certain companies by two years to ease compliance burdens and allow for further preparation time and alignment with broader simplification efforts.

To ensure that SMEs not in scope of the Directive can choose to disclose sustainability information in a proportionate and standardised way, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), has developed a suite of voluntary standards for companies with fewer than 1,000 employees, known as "VSME" standards. This framework also acts as a protective mechanism by limiting the extent of data that larger companies can request from smaller entities in their value chains, while maintaining transparency and alignment with EU sustainability goals.

While the core principle of the EU’s original corporate sustainability reporting regime was well-founded in the context of the EU’s Green Deal, the level of administrative burden associated with the original CSRD was excessive, both for large companies and especially for small and medium companies.

In the context of optimising the competitiveness of EU companies in the evolving global trading environment and ensuring proportionality of the CSRD framework, Ireland is supportive in principle of initiatives to simplify the reporting requirements and reduce costs on European companies, and most especially for SMEs, under the EU’s sustainability reporting instruments.