Freedom of Information, or FOI, is the right to access official records held by Government Departments or other public bodies. This right is defined by the FOI Act, 2014.  Visit the Irish Government Freedom of Information website for detail.

You can make a Freedom of Information request by email, by post, or by using our form.

Freedom of Information request form

Léargas staff are working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic, so it is best to use email or the form during this time. Your application must include:

• A statement that the request is being made under the FOI Act;
• As much information as possible about the records being sought;
• The format in which you wish to receive any records released (for example, scans or photocopies).

Email: foi@leargas.ie

Post:

Lorraine Gilligan,
FOI Officer,
Léargas,
King’s Inns House
Parnell Street
Dublin 1
D01 A3Y8

These records come within the scope of the FOI Act:

• all records relating to personal information held by Léargas, irrespective of when they were created
• all other records created from the commencement of the FOI Act for Léargas, 31 May 2006
• any records necessary to the understanding of a current record, even if created prior to 31 May 2006
• personnel records of serving staff created from 31 May 2006 and those created prior to that date where being used or proposed to be used in a way which adversely affects or may affect the person involved.

In order to allow Government business to be properly conducted, it is sometimes necessary to exempt from release certain types of information in some circumstances. These exceptions are set out in the FOI Act. Key exemptions include records relating to:

• Government meetings
• law enforcement and security
• confidential and commercially sensitive information
• personal information (other than information relating to the person making the request).

Your request may also be refused if it is considered unclear or too voluminous. If this is case, we will contact you to help clarify your request.

You will receive confirmation that we received your request, and your assigned FOI reference. We will respond to your request within the required period set out in the FOI legislation. This is usually four weeks.

There is no charge for submitting an FOI request.

If you submit a non-personal request, there may be a charge for the time spent finding records and for any reproduction costs (search, retrieval and copying charges).

Details of actual charges relating to your request will be notified to you in writing. Payment should be made by way of Electronic Funds Transfer. Please contact the FOI Unit for bank details.  A list of relevant fees is set out below:

List of Fees

• Search, Retrieval and Copying – €20 per hour*
• Photocopying – €0.04 per sheet
• Internal review fee – €30, reduced to €10 for medical card holders
• Appeal to the Information Commissioner – €50, reduced to €15 for medical card holders.

Limits on Search, Retrieval and Copying fees:

• If the cost of search, retrieval and copying is less than €101, there is no charge.
• If the cost of search, retrieval and copying is more than €500 but less than €700, the maximum charge is €500.
• If the cost of search, retrieval and copying is more than €700, Léargas can refuse to process the request.

Léargas is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. We work under the aegis of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and our Board is appointed by the Minister. Léargas manage international and national exchange programmes in education, youth and community work, and vocational education and training. We are the National Agency for Erasmus+ in Adult Education, School Education, Vocational Education and Training, Youth and Sport.

Léargas manage exchange and cooperation programmes in the formal, non-formal and informal education, training and youth sectors. To manage programmes, we gather information from applicants and beneficiaries which is stored online in European Commission databases, online on Léargas’ servers, and locally in the Léargas office.

We hold different types of records, depending on whether they are used in programme administration or day-to-day organisational work.

For programme administration, the types of records we hold are:

• Programme information
• Workplans and budgets for each programme
• Application and report forms
• Contact details for organisations and individuals
• Eligibility and assessment records
• Minutes of National Selection Committee meetings
• Signed contracts
• General correspondence
• Financial records (grants payments, invoices etc.)
• Narrative, financial, statistical and qualitative reports on projects and programmes
• Reports on monitoring and audit visits
• Responses to Requests For Information (RFIs) by National Authorities and other public bodies.

For day-to-day organisational work, the types of records we hold are:

• General correspondence
• General administration records
• Financial records
• HR records
• Bids and tenders
• Operational and other contracts
• Minutes of Board meetings
• Observations and responses to National Authorities.

Much of this information is not shared publicly. Staff in Léargas, the relevant government departments, the European Commission and other agencies and evaluators with whom Léargas works have access to the information for work purposes.

Information on funded organisations is provided in:

• the  Programme Results section  of this website, as required by programme rules
• the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform
• the European Solidarity Corps Project Results Platform.

These platforms do not display contact details for organisations, unless the organisation itself has chosen to do so.

Visit our Governance section for information.

Visit our About Léargas – Our Mission section  for information.

Visit our About Léargas – Annual Reports section for information.

As of June 2021, the number of staff at each pay grade is:
Principal Officer: 1
Assistant PO: 5
Higher Executive Officer: 10
Executive Officer: 24
Clerical Officer: 4

Visit our About Léargas – Our Team section for information.

Yes. The National Centre for Guidance in Education, or NCGE, operates under the aegis of Léargas.

A draft SLA is currently under review by the Department of Education and will be published here when approved.  VERIFY BEFORE PUBLICATION

See our Quality Customer Charter 2018-2020 for information.

See our Child Safeguarding Policy; our Privacy Policy and Legal Statement (internal link) and other codes and procedures on our Governance page.

Léargas manages exchange and cooperation programmes in the formal, non-formal and informal education, training and youth sectors.

The Léargas remit does not include making decisions on policy in education or youth work. However, Léargas provides input into policy making at both national and European level as requested by the relevant Government Departments or the European Commission.

Most programmes have annual application deadlines to apply for funding. Visit the section for each programme on this website for information. See our About Léargas – Our Team section for staff assigned to each programme or network.

We administer the programmes according to European Commission and/or Departmental guidelines. For more details, see the section for each programme or network.

We carry out regular impact and evaluation studies on our services. Visit our Impact Stories section for information or read some key studies below:

• Erasmus+ International Work Placements for Vocational Learners from Ireland
• Impact of Foreign Languages on Participants in Erasmus+ 

• Tracing VET Graduates with Foreign Mobility Experience

See our Governance section for information on Appeals and Complaints. We also operate under the guidelines of the Office of the Ombudsman.

Financial Statements are included in each year’s Annual Report.

N/A at present.

N/A at present.

No. Details of the Board’s travel and subsistence expenses are included in each year’s Annual Report.

Léargas does not provide funding or sponsorship directly to non-public bodies. Public and non-public bodies may apply for project-grants under the programmes we manage. Visit our Programme Results section for details of funded organisations.

Léargas follows the guidelines set by the Office of Government Procurement.

Yes, as required.

One public contract was awarded in 2016.

Léargas reports on FOI requests regularly or as requested to the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

Yes. You can read more about it in the Léargas Internal Audit Charter.

Visit our Programme Results section for details of projects funded by Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps.