Accreditation and Awards

Quality Improvement & Accreditation in the Marine Institute

The provision of excellence in our services to both internal staff members and external customers is the foundation of the Marine Institute values and objectives. This enables us to deliver our strategic objectives while focusing on continuous learning and improvement.

The Marine Institute has a Quality Improvement Plan in place, supporting a suite of quality and accreditation programmes that are currently in operation.

Human Resources - Excellence Through People Accreditation in the Marine Institute

Excellence Through People (ETP) is the National Human Resource Management Scheme, accredited by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) since 2012. It is recognized as a Business Improvement Tool, aiming to:

“…enhance performance and realize strategies through the management and development of people.”

The Marine Institute has been involved in the ETP Programme since first receiving certification in 2005. In 2021 we received the Platinum Award the highest level under the current NSAI standard, which we retained in September 2024. This recognition reflects the commitment of our employees to continuous improvement, engagement, open communications and our organisation focus on learning and development, supporting our people and ensuring effective leadership.

The Excellence Through People 1000:2012 Platinum Standard encourages organisations and employees to work together to establish best practices in workforce engagement, leadership, and development.

The ETP model has helped the Institute strengthen our focus on employee engagement, recognition, and lifelong learning. It has also enhanced our strategic planning, ensuring that our people practices are aligned with organisational goals.

To achieve and retain ETP Platinum Certification, the Marine Institute undergoes annual assessments across six core areas:

  • Business Planning & Continuous Improvement
  • Effective Communication & People Engagement
  • Leadership & People Management
  • Planning of Learning & Development
  • Evaluation of Learning & Development
  • Human Resource Systems & Employee Wellbeing

This achievement reflects the collective efforts of our employees and our ongoing commitment to fostering a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous development on a strong platform of equality, diversity and inclusion.

ISO 9001 - National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) and IQ-Net

The Marine Institute is the Competent Authority (CA) for the implementation of fish health legislation in Ireland. The CA manages the administrative procedures associated with the implementation of Council Directive 2006/88/EC which was transposed into Irish law by Statutory Instrument No 261 of 2008 (as amended). Organisationally, the Competent Authority function is executed by the Fish Health Unit of the Marine Environment and Food Safety Services Division.

The Competent Authority Office maintains a Quality Management System which was certified in 2014 by the National Standards Authority of Ireland and transitioned to the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 which the CA are now certified to. This commitment to quality has enabled the CA Office not only to ensure compliance with EU and national legislative requirements, but also to ensure work practices are independently audited on an annual basis thereby actively pursuing continual improvement in all aspects of our performance in order meet client requirements.

ISO 17025 - Accredited by the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB)

Our Marine Environment and Food Safety Services (MEFSS) group carry out a range of tests to support the Irish seafood industry and environmental monitoring programmes, and to fulfil the requirement of specific European legislation. In order to ensure the quality of our results and to meet legislative requirements, we have obtained accreditation from the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB) to ISO17025 (International Organisation for Standardisation). The ISO17025 standard outlines all of the requirements that testing laboratories must demonstrate to prove that they are technically competent and that the laboratory generates technically valid results. As part of INAB accreditation, MEFSS quality system and test methods are audited by independent technical experts to ensure compliance with the standard.

We were first awarded INAB accreditation for the chemical screening and confirmation of residues in fish tissue in 2002 (Reg No. 130T). Since then, the scope of accreditation has been extended yearly and we have been successful in obtaining accreditation for over 30 test methods.

The Quality System covers a wide range of disciplines/analyses including virology, bacteriology, parasitology, histology, microbiology, molecular biology, phytoplankton enumeration, biotoxin analysis and a range of analytical chemistry tests for residue and environmental contaminants. We aim to maintain accreditation for our current scope and extend it for key areas both in MEFSS and other services areas of the MI.