Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke TD has today signed into law the Statutory Instrument giving effect to the provisions of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The SI provides for the following key elements:
- Power for IAASA to regulate the sustainability reporting of entities under IAASA’s remit as accounting enforcer
- Power for IAASA to adopt a sustainability assurance standard pending the adoption of an EU wide standard by the European Commission
- Power for recognised accountancy bodies (‘RAB’s’) to approve and register sustainability assurance service providers
- Power to regulate the provision of sustainability assurance to companies in scope, which will be split between IAASA for PIE’s and RABs for other companies
The EU has already approved the European Sustainability Reporting Standards which will apply to companies in scope for reporting at the end of this year (2024). While in Ireland this is a relatively small population, for the 2025 reporting year all large companies will come in scope for these extensive reporting requirements. If they have not done so already, directors and audit committees of companies in scope need to start preparing immediately.