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How ESF+ is structured in Ireland

Ireland’s ESF+ programme is called Employment, Inclusion, Skills and Training (EIST), and it runs in five priorities: employment; skills and lifelong learning; social inclusion; social innovation; and assistance to the most deprived. Ireland must put at least 25% of its EU ESF+ allocation into social inclusion, at least 5% into tackling child poverty and at least 3% into help for the most deprived. The EU reimburses checked spending; you may still be paid in advance: the EU pays 40% of a claim in the South and East & Midlands, 60% in the North-West, 90% on food support and up to 95% on social innovation; the Irish Exchequer pays the rest. Which body you report to depends on which action you deliver.

ESF+ — the national programmeReg. (EU) 2021/1057 · CPR Reg. (EU) 2021/1060€1.08bn (2021–2027): €508m EU + €573m Ireland
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 Employment
Allocates €508m ESF+ to Ireland under Reg. (EU) 2021/1057, approves the EIST programme, and accepts the annual accounts the Managing Authority submits
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DFHERIS — ESF+ Managing Authority and Accounting Function
Dept. of Further & Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. Manages the EIST programme, runs management verifications with the Intermediate Bodies (CPR Art. 74), draws up the accounts (Art. 76) and submits payment applications to the Commission.
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Intermediate Bodies — the department or agency responsible for each action
Named in writing under CPR Art. 71(3): SOLAS for ETB Training, the Dept. of Social Protection for JobsPlus and Back to Work Enterprise Allowance, the Dept. of Rural & Community Development & the Gaeltacht for SICAP (with Pobal as its agent), the HEA for higher-education actions. Not every action has one — some national bodies report straight to the Managing Authority.
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ETBs (16) · higher education institutions · Skillnet Business Networks
Organise and deliver training and education at local and regional level under the five priorities
👉 Your organisation sits at this level
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Beneficiaries — the organisations that deliver and claim
ETBs and FET providers, the LCDCs that contract SICAP delivery, Youthreach centres, youth justice projects, higher education institutions, Skillnet networks, and the charities in the food and basic-material support network. In ESF+ language your organisation is the beneficiary: it signs the agreement, keeps participant records and declares the expenditure.
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Participants
The people the actions are for: jobseekers and the long-term unemployed, but also learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, low-skilled workers, young people, migrants, families and people in food poverty
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Audit Chain
Your records → the Intermediate Body checks the claim (Art. 74; for SICAP via LCDC and LGAS) → DFHERIS as Managing Authority and Accounting Function draws up the accounts (Art. 76) and claims from the Commission → the ESF+ Audit Authority — the Internal & EU Audit Unit of the Department of Education and Youth — audits the system and a sample independently (Art. 77) → the European Commission accepts the accounts. Alongside, not above: the Comptroller and Auditor General audits Irish public money, the European Court of Auditors audits the EU budget, and OLAF investigates suspected fraud.

Process maps under this programme

Where this came from

Human reviewed2026-09-21Automatically checked2026-10-12Current source statusAutomatic check incomplete — human check requiredThe source could not be reached automatically. Published content has been preserved for human checking.

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 Managing Authority's own pages and the SICAP Programme Requirements; 19 sources are listed below. Oversight is set out as the Common Provisions Regulation builds it: management verifications, the accounting function, independent audit, then the Commission, with the Comptroller and Auditor General, the European Court of Auditors and OLAF alongside rather than above. The Intermediate Body for SICAP is the Department, with Pobal acting as its agent, and not every action has an Intermediate Body. The five priorities and their actions are listed as the programme publishes them. In ESF+ the beneficiary is the organisation that claims; the people supported are participants. The 5% child-poverty floor applies in Ireland. Money arrives as reimbursement of checked spending, at 40% or 60% EU, not as an advance.