Ireland transposes the CSRD into law

On July 5th 2024, Minister Peter Burke signed into law S.I. No. 336/2024 European Union (Corporate Sustainability Reporting) Regulations 2024. The Regulations bring the CSRD into Irish law and amend Irish legislation, including the Companies Act 2014.

The CSRD entered into force on 5 January 2023, following approval at the European Parliament and EU Member States, including Ireland, were required to transpose this into local legislation within 18 months.

Under the CSRD, certain companies are required to report on various sustainability matters in accordance with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). In addition to this, some companies who will not be required to report under the ESRS may have to provide sustainability information to companies in their value chain who are reporters under the standards. A key requirement of the CSRD is that assurance must be obtained in relation to sustainability information reported by an entity in scope.

The Statutory Instrument amends Irish legislation, including the Companies Act 2014 and also introduces new sections into the Act. Amongst other things, the legislation addresses the following;

• The types of companies who will be subject to the CSRD, and the years in which they will have to report
• The requirement that companies within scope report their sustainability information in accordance with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards
• The introduction of new sections 1585 to 1648 to the Companies Act 2014 which address Sustainability Reporting
• The Companies who will be in scope for the CSRD in 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2028
• Certain reporting exemptions for subsidiaries
• Consolidated sustainability reporting
• Electronic reporting format
• Additional documents to be annexed to applicable companies' annual returns
• Reporting obligations for certain branches of non-EU companies
• Transitional provisions which will apply until 6 January 2030
• Provisions relating to how sustainability assurance engagements will be carried out, including the process for adopting assurance standards, reporting requirements and details of how opinions should be presented and signed
• Audit committee responsibilities for public interest entities relating to sustainability reporting
• Process for individuals or firms to apply for approval to act as a sustainability assurance service provider
• Transitional provisions available to certain persons which will exempt them from certain requirements to be approved as a sustainability assurance service provider
• Approval process for third country auditors or auditors from EU Member States to become sustainability assurance service providers in Ireland
• Oversight of the system of quality assurance by the Supervisory Authority and how the assurance of sustainability information will be supervised and regulated

The Institute's technical team is currently reviewing the legislation and liaising with members of their technical committees and will provide further detail in due course which will be available on the Institute's website.