Minister Martin Praises Irish Companies on their achievements in EU Competition

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Micheál Martin, T.D., tonight congratulated fifteen Irish organisations on having being listed among the 100 best workplaces in the EU. The 2006 list of the 100 “Best Workplaces in Europe” is complied by the Great Place to Work Institute, and is based on “Best Companies” contests which were conducted in 14 EU States, including Ireland. The list was announced tonight (Wednesday 17 May, 2006) at an awards ceremony in Berlin. In congratulating the Irish companies on their achievements, Minister Martin acknowledged their contributions to raising workplace standards in Ireland.

The fifteen Irish organisations are: Abbott Laboratories Ireland; Airtricity; Brightwater; Children’s University Hospital, Temple Street; Clontarf Castle Hotel; Deloitte; DePuy; Diageo; GE Commercial Aviation Services; Google Ireland; Intel; O2 Ireland; PEI; Philips Electronics Ireland and Tourism Ireland.

Minister Martin said “I am very happy with the outcome of the competition. To have fifteen Irish organisations listed among the 100 best workplaces in the EU is a tremendous achievement for Ireland and is an indication of our country as a great country to do business in. I understand that, on a working population basis, we would have expected to take no more than three of the 100 places. I am also extremely pleased that two Irish companies, DePuy and O2 Ireland, were listed in the top 10 workplaces in Europe”.

The Minister also congratulated Google Ireland, who won a special award for best practice in creating a fun place to work and paid special praise to Children’s University Hospital, Temple Street, who are the first publicly funded hospital to be included on either the EU or US Best Workplaces’ lists.

The “Best Companies” competition recognises organisations in which employees are provided with a great work environment, thereby raising the quality of workplaces throughout the EU. Over 1,000 organisations in 14 EU Member States, including companies, non profit entities and state enterprises, entered the 2006 competition. Each organisation submitted a questionnaire that detailed its HR practices, with particular emphasis on their HR policies, practices and philosophies while members of staff were selected at random to complete a confidential questionnaire outlining their experiences of working in the organisation.

ENDS

ETE 1570