“Transformative agreement” is an umbrella term describing those agreements negotiated between institutions (libraries, national and regional consortia) and publishers in which former subscription expenditures are repurposed to support open access publishing, thus transforming the business model underlying scholarly journal publishing, gradually and definitively shifting from one based on toll access (subscription) to one in which publishers are remunerated a fair price for their open access publishing services. (ESAC, Efficiency and Standards for Article Charges Initiative). Until now, IReL’s focus was on enabling access to over 40,000 journals by staff and students at member institutions, a vital infrastructure for research, teaching and learning. The new agreements require publishers also to provide immediate open access to articles whose corresponding author is at a participating IReL member institution, saving on previously separate publishing costs and enabling researchers to meet expectations of open access to Irish research.