ESB wins ACCA Sustainability Reporting Award

ESB has won the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Sustainability Reporting Award for 2005. The award was presented to Chief Executive Padraig McManus at an event in the Conrad Hotel in Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin on Tuesday December 6th.

The awards are held annually to raise awareness of environmental reporting and corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues. The independent judging panel stated that ESB's report "clearly acknowledged and explained the environmental impact of company operations and policies". ACCA went on to say that the report was very open and comprehensive, focusing on customers, employees, the environment and community equally and that its credibility was significantly increased by the presence of detailed information on how ESB manages its relationships with its customers.

The awards were presented by Gerard Loughnane, FCCA, President ACCA Ireland, while Donal Buckley of IBEC presented the judges' final report.

Speaking at the awards. Padraig McManus said "We would like to think we treat our customers well and we would like to build on that. We want ESB to be at the forefront of being an employer. ESB does a lot of work with the community and our staff have largely been to the fore in this. I believe all companies should contribute to the overall development in which we live. We burn fossil fuels so it's important to be at the forefront of managing the environment."

The Chief Executive went on to say that when ESB first got involved in the CCR process he didn't want a glossy report but rather an honest assessment of where we are. "CSR is not something we get involved in to be good, it has to be fundamental to the way we shape our strategy. I am delighted to bring this award back to show we are making progress and to get more people involved. We see it as being a critical part of our business going forward."