Sustainable Procurement at ESB
Procurement is central our sustainability goals, both in our organisation and across our supply chains. We are embedding sustainability into all our procurement activities, in line with our Sustainability Leadership Plan.
Compliance with EU Directive and Procedures
As a semi-state entity, we must conduct our procurement activities according to the EU Utilities Directive. This directive sets out rules for procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport, and postal services sectors.
ESB’s procurement policy aligns with ISO 20400 Sustainable Procurement. It is our policy to procure goods, works and services in a manner that has the most positive environmental, social and economic possible over their entire lifecycle and ensures that all procurements undertaken by, or on behalf of, ESB are compliant with all applicable Irish and EU legislation.
We require all suppliers and contractors providing goods, services or works to, or on behalf of, ESB to confirm their compliance with these procedures as well as our Supplier Charter.
All contractors working for or on behalf of ESB must abide by our Requirements for Third Parties. This requires them to conduct themselves in accordance with applicable laws and the principles enshrined in our Modern Slavery Policy.
We conduct independent audits to ensure that contractors commissioned by ESB are compliant with their obligations, including all applicable employment legislation.
Goods and services procured
We procure a wide range of supplies, services and works to support the delivery of our business activities. A comprehensive list of all goods and services is available in our procurement section of this website.
Where applicable, we work with organisational bodies to ensure the correct sourcing of goods and services. For example, we are a member of the Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI), a European industry body consisting of major solar PV developers and manufacturers that has established minimum standards in the areas of supply chain traceability, environmental, social and governance and business ethics.
We are also one of the 15 founding partners of The Irish Supply Chain Sustainability School. We believe our participation in this initiative will help us, our supply chain partners and the wider Irish built environment on our collective sustainability journey through the provision of tools, resources and learning materials.