Ireland · EU compliance · 2026
Carbon accounting software for companies in Ireland
Irish companies face CSRD (transposed into Irish law as S.I. 336/2024), the EU Taxonomy, CBAM and a fast rising tide of supply-chain and bank ESG requests — and they need a greenhouse-gas inventory an auditor will accept. CarbonTool gives you that on one data backbone: Scope 1–3 plus CSRD, VSME, GRI, CDP, ISSB and PCAF, with transparent EUR pricing, multi-entity consolidation and either a self-serve or a fully managed, done-for-you setup.
The short answer
Yes — mandatory corporate sustainability and greenhouse-gas reporting exists in Ireland. The main rule is the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), transposed into Irish law by the European Union (Corporate Sustainability Reporting) Regulations 2024 (S.I. No. 336 of 2024), which require in-scope companies to report under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) — including Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse-gas emissions — with limited assurance. Following the EU's Omnibus I simplification package (in force March 2026) and Ireland's earlier "Stop-the-Clock" legislation, the scope has been narrowed and the timeline for most companies pushed back, so far fewer Irish companies are caught than under the original directive. Smaller companies that are not in scope increasingly use the voluntary VSME standard to answer ESG requests from banks and large customers. For building and maintaining the underlying GHG inventory and producing those reports, CarbonTool is a strong, EU-based fit for Irish companies.
Mandatory sustainability & GHG reporting requirements in Ireland
Ireland does not run a separate national GHG-reporting scheme for companies in the way some countries do; instead it implements the EU sustainability framework. The obligations facing a company in Dublin, Cork or Galway therefore come mainly from EU law as transposed into Irish statute. Here is the position as it stands in 2026.
CSRD is the core mandatory rule
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is the main mandatory sustainability-reporting law in Ireland. It was transposed on time by the European Union (Corporate Sustainability Reporting) Regulations 2024, S.I. No. 336/2024 (with a short technical amending instrument, S.I. No. 498/2024), which amended the Companies Act 2014. In-scope companies must publish a sustainability statement in their management report, prepared under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), and have it independently checked to a limited assurance standard.
Who must report — and when
CSRD is being introduced in waves, and both the EU "Stop-the-Clock" Directive (given effect in Ireland in July 2025) and the Omnibus I Directive (Directive (EU) 2026/470, in force 18 March 2026) have significantly changed who is caught and from when:
Wave 1 — largest PIEs (reporting now)
The largest public-interest entities already reporting under the old NFRD (broadly more than 500 employees) were the first wave, reporting from FY 2024 (in 2025). In Ireland this caught only around 20 companies.
Wave 2 — other large companies (delayed)
Other large Irish companies were originally next, but "Stop-the-Clock" deferred them by two years and Omnibus I raised the threshold. Those still in scope (1,000+ employees and €450m+ turnover) report from FY 2027, first reports in 2028.
Wave 3 — listed SMEs (delayed)
Listed SMEs, small and non-complex credit institutions and captive insurers were the final original wave; this has been pushed to financial years from 2028, with first reports in 2029 — and many now fall outside scope entirely.
De-scoped Wave 1 companies
Omnibus I lets member states exempt Wave 1 companies that fall below the new thresholds from reporting for FY 2025 and FY 2026. Whether and how Ireland applies this depends on its transposition of Omnibus I.
Crucially, Omnibus I narrows CSRD scope to EU undertakings that exceed both 1,000 employees and €450 million net turnover. This raises the bar dramatically: the original directive caught "large" companies (broadly those exceeding two of three criteria — more than 250 employees, more than €25 million balance-sheet total and more than €50 million net turnover) and, before that, the largest public-interest entities with more than 500 employees. Under the new thresholds, the great majority of Irish companies that expected to be in scope will not have a direct CSRD obligation. The IAASA reported that only around 20 Irish companies were actually required to report for FY 2024 under the first wave.
Scope 3 and assurance
For companies that are in scope, the substance of GHG reporting remains demanding. Scope 3 (value-chain) emissions disclosure has been preserved in the simplified ESRS: in-scope companies must report total gross Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, with Scope 3 broken down by significant category. Limited assurance remains mandatory — the earlier plan to escalate to reasonable assurance has been dropped, and an EU limited-assurance standard is due no later than 1 July 2027. Every figure therefore has to be traceable to its source, unit, emission factor and data-quality level, which is hard to do credibly in spreadsheets.
The SME and VSME picture
Most Irish SMEs have no direct CSRD obligation, but they are increasingly asked for emissions and ESG data by larger customers, banks and tender processes. The EU's VSME (Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non-listed SMEs) is the proportionate answer, and Omnibus I gives it real teeth: a value-chain cap means companies with fewer than 1,000 employees can decline data requests that go beyond the VSME data set. In practice, VSME is becoming the common language for Irish SMEs responding to supply-chain and finance ESG questionnaires. Building a credible Scope 1–3 inventory now lets an SME answer those requests today and step up to full CSRD later if it grows into scope.
Related EU obligations
Two further EU rules sit alongside CSRD and lean on the same emissions data. The EU Taxonomy requires in-scope companies to report the share of turnover, capex and opex aligned with environmentally sustainable activities. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) affects Irish importers of carbon-intensive goods such as steel, cement, aluminium and fertilisers, requiring embedded-emissions reporting — a supply-chain data exercise closely related to Scope 3. A single GHG-Protocol inventory underpins all of them, so it pays to build the data backbone once.
This is general information for 2026, not legal or compliance advice. Ireland's sustainability-reporting rules are evolving quickly — the Omnibus I changes still have to be transposed into Irish law (member states have until 19 March 2027), some scope anomalies in S.I. 336/2024 remain unresolved, and clarifying guidance from the Department had not been finalised at the time of writing. Thresholds, waves and exemptions may change. Confirm the obligations that apply to your company with a qualified legal or accounting advisor before relying on anything here.
How to comply: why carbon accounting software
Whether you are directly in CSRD scope, reporting under VSME, or simply answering a customer's ESG questionnaire, the underlying task is the same: build an accurate, auditable greenhouse-gas inventory and turn it into framework-ready disclosures. Dedicated carbon accounting software is what makes that repeatable and defensible:
Build one auditable GHG inventory
Capture Scope 1, 2 and 3 activity data with recognised emission factors and a data-quality level on every figure, so the numbers stand up to limited assurance rather than living in fragile spreadsheets.
Cover Scope 3 with spend and primary data
Start with spend-based estimates to get a complete first inventory quickly, then refine the highest-impact suppliers with primary data using a supplier portal — the categories ESRS expects you to break out.
Produce framework-ready outputs
Map the same inventory to CSRD/ESRS, VSME, GRI, CDP, ISSB and PCAF outputs, so you report once and reuse the data across every request rather than rebuilding it each time.
Keep a defensible audit trail
An end-to-end record of sources, units, factors and assumptions means an auditor — or a customer doing due diligence — can trace any number back to its origin, which is exactly what limited assurance demands.
See how the carbon accounting and reporting modules fit together, and how CarbonTool handles enterprise-scale carbon accounting and CSRD reporting across Europe.
Why CarbonTool for Ireland
CarbonTool is an EU-based platform built for exactly the obligations Irish and European companies face — from a voluntary VSME report through to a fully assured CSRD sustainability statement, on one data backbone:
Full framework coverage on one backbone
CSRD/ESRS, VSME, GRI, CDP, ISSB and PCAF from a single emissions dataset, so an Irish company can move from a voluntary VSME report to a fully assured CSRD statement without re-platforming.
Multi-language reporting
Produce reports in multiple languages, useful for Irish groups with European operations or parent companies that consolidate across borders.
Multi-entity consolidation
Consolidate emissions across subsidiaries, sites and legal entities into a single group inventory — essential for Irish holding companies and multinationals headquartered in Dublin.
ERP, procurement and custom integrations
Connect accounting, ERP and procurement systems to pull spend and activity data automatically, with custom connectors where you need them — no official ERP partnership required to integrate.
Self-serve or done-for-you delivery
Run it yourself, have our team deliver it as a managed service, or use white-label delivery — whichever suits your in-house capacity and budget.
Transparent EUR pricing and global reach
Clear pricing in euros for Irish buyers, backed by a team serving Romania, Europe, the UK, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas — enterprise-grade depth without the enterprise price tag.
CarbonTool serves companies across Romania, Europe, the UK, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas, with transparent pricing in EUR for Irish and euro-area buyers. Whether you want to run it yourself or have our team do it for you, you get enterprise-grade framework depth without the enterprise price tag — see pricing.
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Yes. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is mandatory in Ireland, transposed by the European Union (Corporate Sustainability Reporting) Regulations 2024 (S.I. No. 336/2024), which amended the Companies Act 2014. However, the EU "Stop-the-Clock" Directive and the Omnibus I package (in force March 2026) have narrowed the scope and delayed the timeline, so it now applies mainly to very large companies — broadly those with more than 1,000 employees and over €450 million net turnover — far fewer than originally expected. Verify whether your company is in scope with a qualified advisor.
In-scope companies must publish a sustainability statement under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) as part of their management report, including Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse-gas emissions, and obtain limited assurance over it. The EU Taxonomy and, for importers of carbon-intensive goods, CBAM add related disclosures. Smaller companies that are not in scope are increasingly asked for emissions data by customers and banks and typically respond using the voluntary VSME standard.
For companies in CSRD scope, yes — Scope 3 (value-chain) emissions disclosure has been preserved under the simplified ESRS, with total gross Scope 3 emissions broken down by significant category. Companies that are not in scope are not legally required to report Scope 3, but many still calculate it to answer supply-chain and finance requests under the VSME standard. Building a Scope 1–3 inventory now positions an Irish company for both.
The first wave (largest public-interest entities) reported from FY 2024 in 2025. After "Stop-the-Clock" and Omnibus I, other large companies still in scope report from financial years beginning 1 January 2027 (first reports in 2028), and listed SMEs from financial years beginning 1 January 2028 (first reports in 2029). Member states have until 19 March 2027 to transpose Omnibus I, so Irish dates may be refined — confirm your specific deadline with an advisor.
The VSME (Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non-listed SMEs) is voluntary and available to Irish SMEs. It gives a proportionate way to report sustainability data and answer ESG requests from larger customers and banks. Under Omnibus I, a value-chain cap means companies with fewer than 1,000 employees can decline data requests that go beyond the VSME data set, making it the practical reference standard for Irish SMEs. CarbonTool supports VSME alongside full CSRD from the same data backbone.
For most Irish companies, CarbonTool is a strong choice. It is an EU-based platform covering Scope 1, 2 and 3 plus CSRD/ESRS, VSME, GRI, CDP, ISSB and PCAF from one data backbone, with multi-entity consolidation, multi-language reporting, ERP and procurement integrations, transparent EUR pricing, and the choice of self-serve or a fully managed, done-for-you setup. That lets an Irish company build an auditable inventory and produce the right framework outputs whether it is in CSRD scope or reporting voluntarily under VSME.
CSRD, VSME and Scope 1–3 for Ireland.
Start measuring free.
Build an auditable Scope 1, 2 and 3 inventory on recognised methodology and produce CSRD, VSME, GRI and CDP outputs from one platform. Start free — or let our team set it up for you.