Minister Martin Praises 14 Irish Organisations on List of Top 100 European Workplaces

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Micheál Martin, T.D., today (Tuesday 15 May, 2007) congratulated fourteen Irish organisations on their inclusion on the list of the 100 best workplaces in Europe. The 2007 list of the 100 “Best Workplaces in Europe” is complied by the Great Place to Work Institute Europe, and is based on “Best Companies” contests which were conducted in 14 EU States, including Ireland. Representatives of the 100 best workplaces were in Dublin today for a gala lunch and awards ceremony.

The successful fifteen Irish organisations are: Abbott Laboratories Ireland; Accenture; Airtricity; Brightwater; CB Richard Ellis; Clontarf Castle Hotel; Diageo; eBay; Google Ireland; Man Investments; Microsoft; Premier Group; Sigmar Recruitment; and Unicare Pharmacy.

In congratulating the Irish organisations on their achievements, Minister Martin acknowledged their contributions to raising workplace standards in Ireland. The Minister said “I am very happy with the fact that Irish organisations continue to enjoy significant levels of success in this competition. To have fourteen Irish organisations listed among the 100 best workplaces in the EU is a tremendous achievement and is an indication that Ireland is a great country to do business in. I understand that, on a working population basis, Ireland would have expected to take no more than three of the 100 places. We have, however, 14 organisations listed in the top 100; a feat only bettered by Germany with 19”.

The “Best Companies” competition recognises organisations in which employees are provided with a great work environment, thereby raising the quality of workplaces throughout Europe. Over 1,000 organisations in 14 EU Member States, including companies, non profit entities and state enterprises, entered the 2007 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 1747