I thank the Minister of State for coming in. I know he probably had a late night last night. It is interesting to hear him talk about his memories when he was young. Like myself, they must be quite hazy at this stage.

Last week, the extensive lobbying efforts on behalf of several multinational giants by the consulting firm Teneo were revealed. Leaked documents showed the massive efforts these companies and their lobbyists put into gutting EU laws that would have enhanced corporate accountability. It seems pointless that the Government will come out with reports and statements on the work it is doing on the environment when it continually buckles under the pressure from multinational giants. This legislation would have required large companies to tackle human rights abuses and environmental harm in their company chains and to report on their businesses' environmental impacts. They were successful in quashing these rules and the European Parliament and Council both voted this week to take the side of corporate profit over working people and the environment. All Fine Gael, Independent Ireland and most Fianna Fáil MEPs voted to take the corporate line on this, with only Sinn Féin and Luke 'Ming' Flanagan voting against.

We know for a fact that these lobbies targeted Irish MEPs, the Irish Government and the Irish EU Commissioner on this issue to make sure that big business got its way. What we do not know yet is which MEPs, Commissioners and Ministers met with these lobbyists on this particular issue and whether they supported them in rolling back the rules. Did any Government Minister meet with lobbyists or representatives from ExxonMobil, Hanover Communications or Enterprise Mobility in relation to omnibus legislation? Furthermore, did the Irish Government this week support the position of these companies by voting through the deregulation in the European Council?

I thank Senator Andrews for raising this important issue and his wishes in relation to our late-night meetings. It was always good fun when I used to sit either behind or beside him. We often had good fun in those days but we have it here too.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to the Seanad today and I thank Senator Andrews for raising this matter, which I know is of significant importance to him. He and his late dad were great champions of so many international issues and I am pleased to see that he continues in that vein. On this issue, I take it that the Senator is referring to the omnibus on sustainability published in March 2025 and in particular to those elements relating to the corporate sustainability due diligence directive, CSDDD, and the corporate sustainability reporting directive, CSRD.

lreland supports the ongoing efforts to enhance the EU regulatory framework and welcomes the ongoing focus on ensuring that legislation is fit for purpose, with due regard to administrative and reporting burdens and with a particular focus on the impacts on smaller companies. The reform agenda is being strongly driven by EU leaders. The European Council has called for a simplification revolution by ensuring a clear, simple and smart regulatory framework for businesses, reducing administrative, regulatory and reporting burdens, and avoiding over-regulation and the introduction of administrative burdens throughout the legislative process.

Since the publication of the omnibus on sustainability, officials from the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, both in Dublin and Brussels, have engaged with a range of stakeholders concerning this proposal. These include meetings with civil society organisations and business representatives, including a recent meeting with the Irish Coalition for Business and Human Rights. The Minister, Deputy Burke, met with the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland, BPFI, last July at its request to discuss the CSRD. In September, the Minister, Deputy Burke, also spoke at an event hosted by Hanover Communications, attended by a number of representative bodies and companies, including IBEC, the American Chamber of Commerce, the Irish Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association, BPFl, Meta, Medtronic, Bristol Myers Squibb, JP Morgan and Enterprise Mobility, where the Minister provided an overview of the omnibus proposal. The Minister has not met with Teneo.

It is important to recognise that the omnibus on sustainability proposal is about finding an appropriate balance between obligations on business and ensuring adequate protections for the environment and those impacted by the operations of the companies. Negotiating positions were agreed at Council in June and by the European Parliament in November. Trilogue negotiations commenced in early December and concluded last week. We look forward to prompt adoption of the proposal at an early date in 2026.

The measures in relation to the CSRD will streamline, simplify and reduce reporting requirements. In regard to the CSDDD, in-scope companies will, for the first time, have legal obligations to conduct risk-based human rights and environmental due diligence and integrate due diligence into all corporate policies and risk management systems.

I am very concerned by the level of lobbying at EU level and how decisions are all too often being made behind closed doors without any real democratic input or transparency. Those with money should not be the ones who write our laws and regulations and I find it very disappointing that the Irish Government is unwilling to stand up for workers' rights and the environment when it goes against corporate interests.

It is interesting that the Minister has met Hanover Communications. Will the Minister of State clarify whether the Minister has met with ExxonMobil or Enterprise Mobility in regard to the omnibus legislation? It is about ensuring that the giant multinationals are held to account, that there is transparency, that the lobbying they undertake is clear and that people are aware of what lobbying they are doing and who they are doing it with. It is disappointing that the Government is willing to engage with the pressure from these multinationals and support them.

The information available to me is, as I mentioned in the opening contribution, that the Minister, Deputy Burke, spoke at an event hosted by Hanover Communications, where he outlined the overview of the omnibus proposal. I understand Enterprise Mobility was there. I have no information in relation to ExxonMobil but I would be happy that the Department will come back to the Senator directly to answer that specific question.

I wish to make a broader point on lobbying. Of course it can be misconstrued, but I think it is incumbent on all of us, no matter what role we hold in public office, to listen to all sides. I have had the pleasure of being a public representative for 24 or 25 years now and I am just recently in this role. Throughout that time, I have met people of all creeds, colours and diversity in society - people from NGOs and large corporations - who have their own agenda. Some of it is profit-driven and some of it is an appreciation for human rights and the environment. I would like to think that, in a democratic environment, people can put their point forward. It is for all of us in public office to use our best judgment to establish what is right and wrong in relation to a particular directive. What this is about, to me, is a simplification process. It is about reducing the burden on companies where the regulation is overly burdensome and sometimes unnecessary. We all talk about. Farmers and small businesses talk about it. It is putting a burden on them to the extent that they are not able to get on with their business in a respectful way, continue to employ people and provide the ability for communities to have that employment.

I take the Senator's point about big companies. It is incumbent on all of us-----

The Government votes with them.

-----to be cautious. If we make a decision, it should not be that we are necessarily influenced by the large corporations. Sometimes we vote the other way too, where we have reflected on it and it is in the best interest of the wider community. I thank the Senator for his interest.