Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

The Higher Education Authority, HEA, is the statutory planning and development body for higher education and research in Ireland, and the primary State funding source for Irish universities, institutes of technology, ITs, and other higher education institutions. The HEA’s income in 2019 was €1.4 billion, with more than 80% coming from Vote 26, education and skills. A further 13% came from the national training fund. Following the establishment of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, the bulk of the HEA’s funding from 2020 onwards will come from the Vote for that Department. The payment of recurrent and capital grants, totalling €1.39 billion, to higher education institutions represented almost all of the HEA’s expenditure in 2019.

The HEA’s operating costs in 2019 amounted to €11.8 million. I issued a clear audit opinion on the 2019 financial statements. Members may wish to note that I certified the authority's 2020 financial statements earlier this week. These will be presented to the Oireachtas in due course. My audit opinion on the 2020 financial statements was also unqualified.

Most of the HEA’s expenditure involves grant funding to higher education institutions, which I audit. As the HEA has oversight responsibility for the sector generally, this presents an opportunity for us to provide feedback on sectoral problems or on patterns identified during audits. This is done mainly through regular meetings, usually held quarterly, between staff of my office and HEA officials. This approach has proven useful in resolving common concerns, advancing accounting and governance issues, and exchanging information.