Governance Codes and Group Policies
The Board aims to comply in all material respects with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies 2016, a framework for the application of best practice in corporate governance by commercial State bodies.
We are required to adopt this Code of Practice in the conduct of our operations, and to confirm to the relevant Minister when this has been done.
The Code of Practice makes provision for all aspects of the Corporate Governance Framework, including:
- Codes of conduct for directors and employees
- The internal audit function
- Procurement
- Disposal of assets and access to assets by third parties
- Establishment of subsidiaries and acquisitions by state bodies
- Diversification
- Investment appraisal
- Remuneration and directors’ fees
- Reporting arrangements
- Strategic and corporate planning
- Tax compliance
Other Codes
ESB complies on a voluntary basis (in so far as is reasonably applicable given ESB is a statutory corporation) with the UK Corporate Governance Code and the Irish Corporate Governance Annex. For further information see the Board’s Governance Report in the Governance section of the Annual Report. A copy of the UK code can be obtained from the FRC’s website www.frc.org.uk and a copy of the Irish Annex is available at www.ise.ie.
ESB Group Policies
Policies approved by the Board or by Board Committees include:
- Our Code (Code of Conduct for Staff)
- Code of Business Conduct for Board
- ESB Board Inclusion and Diversity Policy
- Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy
- Anti-bribery, Corruption and Fraud Policy
- Environment and Sustainability Policy
- Policy on Modern Slavery
- Group Tax Strategy
- ESB Human Rights Policy
- Whistleblowing and Protected Disclosures Policy
- ESB CCTV Policy
- Treasury Policy
- Enterprise Risk Management and Governance Framework Policy
- Group Risk Appetite Statement
- Policy on Contractual Limitations and Exclusions of Liability
- Policy on Non Audit Services of External Auditor