Procurement
Tenders for Services over €25,000 are published on the e-Tenders website.
All contracts with an estimated value above €25,000 and below the European Union (EU) threshold of €215,000 must be advertised on www.etenders.gov.ie and awarded in accordance with National Public Procurement Guidelines. All thresholds are exclusive of VAT.
To search for current and expired tenders from the Higher Education Authority, please follow this link https://irl.eu-supply.com/ctm/Supplier/PublicTenders to the e-Tenders notice search.
- Current – In the Filters Section choose ADVANCED CATEGORY SEARCH and from the Authority drop down menu select Higher Education Authority. Click search to view the list of current open Tenders
- Expired – follow the same procedure but make sure to click the box Search within expired RFT’s
A significant number of larger tenders are handled at national level by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP). Contracts that are awarded through the OGP are advertised nationally. Once a contract is in place and the Higher Education Authority is one of the contracting entities, procurement from these contracts will be through the relevant framework or mini competition process. In these cases, the HEA or the OGP cannot add additional companies to these frameworks once the initial procurement procedure has been completed. It is therefore very important that suppliers refer to the eTenders or Procurement.ie website for any national framework/tendering competitions.
All contracts with an estimated value above the EU threshold of €215,000 (ex VAT) must be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). Contracts above threshold are awarded in accordance with the provisions of the EU Public Procurement Directive 2014/24/EU. This directive was implemented into Irish law by the European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations (S.I. No. 284 of 2016).
HEA Corporate Procurement Plan, 2023 - 2026
Public Sector Equality & Human Rights Duty Implementation Plan
This implementation plan establishes the ambition, approach, and steps to be taken by the HEA to implement the public sector equality and human rights duty (the Duty), across all of our function areas.
The Duty requires public bodies to have regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, promote equality, and protect human rights for service users, policy beneficiaries, and employees, across all function areas.
Fraud Policy
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) is committed to the prevention and detection of fraud in order to minimise any potential losses due to fraudulent activity. Accordingly, the HEA expects the highest standards of ethical behaviour from staff, higher education institutions and bodies, suppliers and others who conduct transactions with the HEA. The HEA has no tolerance for fraud.
Invoice and Payments
The European Communities (Late Payment in Commercial Transactions) Regulations, 2012 shall apply to all payments. Incorrect invoices will be returned for correction with consequential effects on the due date of payment.
Under Government Decision S 29296 [1] of 19 May 2009 on Prompt Payments, all government departments/offices are committed to reducing the payment period to suppliers for commercial transactions from 30 to 15 calendar days on receipt of a valid invoice, as a means of easing cashflow difficulties for businesses. Please note, Prompt Payment Interest will not accrue until 30 days have passed.
Please be advised that the Higher Education Authority operates specific procedures regarding the purchase of goods and services and subsequent payments. As part of these procedures, and to meet the 15-day payment target for valid invoices, suppliers are asked to please ensure the following when issuing invoices:
- correct invoices are sent directly to Accounts Payable and not to individually named staff members
- accurate bank account details are provided
- ensure Tax Clearance status with the Irish Revenue Commissioners is up to date.
A valid invoice must contain the following:
- The name and address of the business or company
- A valid VAT registration or PPS number
- Date of the invoice
- Invoice number
- The amount of the invoice
- Purchase Order number where applicable
- A description of the goods or services provided
Invalid invoices will be returned to suppliers for correction.
A VAT invoice must comply with Revenue’s requirements.
Payment Process and Remittance
The method of payment is by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). A remittance advice will issue by email where we have an email address on file, or by post.
Payment will only be made for invoices once all the above conditions are met and once relevant agreements or contracts between the HEA and the Supplier have been complied with.
Late Payments
The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science publishes an amalgamated return from each body/agency under its aegis, including the Higher Education Authority, on a quarterly basis. gov – Prompt payments by the department (www.gov.ie)
The HEA return can be found under the “Aegis Bodies” subheading and below
Purchase Orders
The Higher Education Authority is committed to publishing a summary report of all payments made for goods and services in excess of €20,000. Details will be published quarterly in arrears on this page:
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2024, Q1
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2023, Q4
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2023, Q3
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2023, Q2
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2023, Q1
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2022, Q4
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2022, Q3
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2022, Q2
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2022, Q1
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2021, Q4
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2021, Q3
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2021, Q2
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2021, Q1
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2020, Q4
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2020, Q3
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2020, Q2
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2020, Q1
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2019, Q4
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2019, Q3
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2019, Q2
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2019, Q1
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2018, Q4
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2018, Q3
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2018, Q2
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2018, Q1
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2017, Q4
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2017, Q3 (187 KB)
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2017, Q2 (185 KB)
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2017, Q1 (87KB)
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2016 (94KB)
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2015 (186KB)
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2014 (131KB)
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2013 (130KB)
HEA Purchase Orders over 20,000, 2012 (183KB)
Tax Compliance
Tax Clearance is required for all suppliers where the annual turnover with the HEA is €10,000 (inclusive of VAT) or more in a rolling twelve-month period. Payment will be withheld until this is received. Non-residents are also subject to this requirement.
Professional Services Withholding Tax (PSWT) will be deducted from the net of VAT amount of all invoices/fee notes relating to the provision of professional services.
Full details of the requirements in relation to Tax Clearance and Professional Services Withholding Tax (PSWT) together with application forms are available on the Revenue Commissioners website.
Government departments, State agencies and other bodies are required to file annual returns to Revenue. Certain types of payments are excluded. Further details are available on the Revenue Commissioners website under the Third party returns for Government departments and agencies.
Under the Regulations, all departments / bodies making payments should obtain tax reference numbers from suppliers which should be included on the government payments return. The Higher Education Authority must ensue, before engaging with suppliers, that each supplier must provide their tax reference number in advance of any engagement.
Regulation of Lobbying Act
The Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 is designed to provide information to the public about who is lobbying whom about what. The Standards in Public Office Commission have established an online register of lobbying at www.lobbying.ie
The HEA is not a member of any think tanks, lobbying or representative groups nor does it fund any.
Protected Disclosures
HEA Procedures on Protected Disclosures (174KB)
Staff Protected Disclosure Policy
Higher Education Authority Quality Customer Service Plan
Comment and Complaint Procedure
Higher Education Authority Unreasonable Conduct Policy
The HEA has a zero-tolerance stance on bribery and corruption
Contact Details for Oireachtas Queries
Members of the Oireachtas can contact the HEA & IRC by email.
HEA queries can be sent to oireachtas@hea.ie
IRC queries can be sent to oireachtas@research.ie