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How ERDF is structured in Ireland

Ireland runs ERDF as two regional programmes, not one national scheme, and the Regional Assemblies are the Managing Authorities. Under Priority 1 — research and innovation — the calls are not run by them: responsibility is delegated to Intermediate Bodies, so the body that publishes the call, assesses applications, verifies claims and holds the relationship is usually Enterprise Ireland, Research Ireland or the HEA. Which programme you fall under is decided by geography. That sets how much of the money behind your call is EU money — not what you contribute yourself, which each scheme sets in its own call.

ERDF — the two regional programmesReg. (EU) 2021/1058 · CPR Reg. (EU) 2021/1060€880.8m across two programmes · €395.7m from the EU
One programme, too many disconnected records. Delivery notes, partner decisions, expenditure, results and reporting evidence often sit in different places.

How the money reaches an organisation

Every level here can be asked for its own process map. That is the point of yours.

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European Commission — DG REGIO
Approves both regional programmes under Reg. (EU) 2021/1058 and the Common Provisions Regulation — most recently as amended in December 2025 (Northern & Western) and March 2026 (Southern, Eastern & Midland). EU contribution across the two: €395.7m of the €880.8m total; the remaining €485m is Government of Ireland money.
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Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (formerly DPER)
Overall responsibility for EU Cohesion Policy in Ireland. It receives the Commission’s payments and holds the ERDF accounting function — and it hosts the ERDF Audit Authority (its Internal & EU Audit Unit), which under Art. 71(2) is functionally independent of everyone it audits, including the rest of its own Department.
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Managing Authorities — Northern & Western Regional Assembly · Southern Regional Assembly
Two programmes. Northern & Western: €217.1m, a transition region — the EU pays 60% of the programme, the Irish Exchequer the rest. Southern, Eastern & Midland: €663.7m, two more developed regions — the EU pays 40%. That split is between two public purses; what you contribute yourself is set by each scheme’s grant rate. The Eastern & Midland Regional Assembly (Dublin and the Midlands) is not a Managing Authority: its region sits inside the Southern Assembly’s programme. Each programme has a Monitoring Committee (CPR Arts. 38–40) that approves the selection criteria the Intermediate Bodies apply.
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Intermediate Bodies — Enterprise Ireland · Research Ireland · HEA · ATU (N&W only)
Delegated responsibility for Priority 1, research and innovation. They publish the calls, assess applications, verify claims and hold the relationship — through six shared Priority 1 schemes: Technology Gateways, KT Boost, Innovators’ Initiative, ARC Hubs, TU RISE and Smart Regions; NWRA adds Green Enterprise (IB: ATU); STEP is a separate priority. Enterprise Ireland runs the enterprise-facing ones, Research Ireland the ARC Hubs, the HEA TU RISE. Calls are mostly national; the programme depends on where you are.
👉 Your organisation sits at this level
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Beneficiaries — universities, technological universities, research bodies, councils and enterprises
Sign the grant agreement, procure the work under national and EU procurement law, spend first and claim after — and keep the records for five years from 31 December of the year of the last payment. Where the money bought infrastructure or productive investment, the durability obligation runs for five years past the final payment.
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Final Beneficiaries
Researchers and founders using the capacity that gets built, SMEs taking up the technology, and the towns and regions where the investment physically lands. Not a term in the regulation: in CPR language the beneficiary is the body above, which signs and claims; the people here receive what it delivers.
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Audit Chain
Inside the programme: the Intermediate Body and Managing Authority run Art. 74 management verifications — risk-based, on paper and on the spot, finished before the annual accounts go to the Commission → the ERDF Audit Authority audits systems, operations and accounts directly at every level (Art. 77) → the Commission can audit any level itself for three years after the accounts (Art. 70). Alongside, not above: the European Court of Auditors samples Irish operations for the EU budget; OLAF, not the EPPO, investigates fraud; the C&AG audits the Department and the state-body Intermediate Bodies, and the Local Government Audit Service audits the two Regional Assemblies. Art. 82: documents kept five years from 31 December of the year of the last payment.

Process maps under this programme

Where this came from

Human reviewed2026-09-21Automatically checked2026-10-12Current source statusAutomatic baseline required

Read against the source on 2026-09-21. This is the human-reviewed version.

What that check changed: Reviewed and updated on 21 September 2026 against the programmes as amended (Northern & Western, 16 December 2025; Southern, Eastern & Midland, 24 March 2026); 27 sources listed below. Totals: €217.1m + €663.7m = €880.8m, €395.7m of it ERDF — 60% transition region, 40% more developed (Art. 112(3)(c),(e)). Some departmental pages still quote the 2022 figures, €853m / €396m. The 60/40 is the EU share inside the programme, not what an applicant must find; your contribution is set by the scheme’s grant rate. The Regional Assemblies are the Managing Authorities, audited by the Local Government Audit Service; both run the same six schemes, NWRA adding Green Enterprise via ATU, with STEP apart. Article 74 verifications are risk-based, due before the annual accounts; the Managing Authority must pay within 80 days of a claim; Article 65 durability covers infrastructure and productive investment.