Based in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, the company employs almost 700 people. It also won the category for companies with 250-plus employees at the awards.

Commenting on the awards, IITD president Pat Costine said: "Entering these awards is firstly a declaration by organisations that they promote and support the training and development of their staff.

Research shows that where an ethos of training and development exists, it has a significant positive impact in areas such as morale, absenteeism and labour turnover.

In addition, the awards provide an opportunity for organisations to acknowledge and reward the efforts of those who have made important contributions to learning in their workplaces."

Entering the awards required organisations to complete a detailed application form on all aspects of training and development, including: investment in training; qualifications of trainers; external awards;

training mix; training delivery and practice; evaluation; and equality and diversity. They also had to submit examples of key developments in training in the past two years as well as examples of special training initiatives and how training fit into their overall business plans.

DePuy got the honour because it supports lifelong learning and development activities for all employees. It has a good blend of delivery methods with 300 programmes on offer, while its worldwide 'Talent Navigator' system enables all employees to avail of global employment opportunities.

Other winners were ICI Dulux (Irl) Paints, Donohue Scaffolding and the Commission for Communications Regulation. The individual award went to Trinn Meijel of Statoil (Irl).