FÁS Board Members will resign

The chairman of Ireland's national training and employment agency FÁS has said that all its board members will resign in the wake of a report which showed a massive waste of taxpayer money.

Speaking earlier today on the This Week programme on RTÉ Radio 1, Peter McLoone (left) - who is in his day job the Secretary General of IMPACT, Ireland's largest public service trade union - stated there was "no time frame" from either the Taoiseach or the Tánaiste for the appointment of a new board, but that this was something to be clarified early next week.

He emphasised that the present board was only appointed in 2006 and was therefore "not responsible for earlier follies and misbehaviour" inside the agency. However, the board would not stand in the way of change and co-operate completely with the transition.

McLoone defended the board's actions and said it had "dealt with any issues that came before us". He and the whole board would "take responsibility for anything that happened while we were in office".

The move follows strong criticism of wasteful expenditure, including massive overspending on promotion at the agency, specified in detail in a report by John Buckley, Ireland's Comptroller & Auditor General, who investigated FÁS for almost a year. (see my entry of September 10th)

The investigation was ordered last year by the Tánaiste Mary Coughlan (right), who is in her capacity as Ireland's Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment responsible for FÁS.

However, she only acted after the independent Senator Shane Ross (left) had - in a lengthy and painstaking investigation of his own - exposed massive irregularities and waste of taxpayers' money on a colossal scale inside the state agency.

Without courageous and independent people like Shane Ross the truth about FÁS might still be unknown to us and subject to the usual government cover-up and denial.

The Emerald Islander

Massive Waste of Taxpayers' Money in FÁS

Ireland's national training and employment agency FÁS (Foras Áiseanna Saothair) has wasted vast amounts of taxpayers' money and exceeded its budgets regularly.

A new report by Ireland's Comptroller & Auditor General John Buckley, which is the result of a nearly year-long investigation, highlights "a substantial and prolonged breakdown in budgetary control" at the state agency.

One of the agency's most significant follies is a case especially highlighted in the report: FÁS did spend more than € 600,000 on a television advertisement that was never broadcast.

Mr. Buckley also found that general spending in FÁS exceeded budgets by up to 66%.

Nearly a year ago, when the scandalous money-wasting of FÁS became public knowledge, he was given the task to investigate the agency. (see my entries of September 22nd & 23rd, 2008)

Between 2002 and 2008, FÁS spent over € 48 million alone on advertising and promotional activities. This is the largest advertising spend in the non-commercial state sector, and for most of the period audited Ireland had almost full employment. Which means the agency had hardly anything to do and only very few 'customers'.

The Comptroller & Auditor General also found that budgetary control in FÁS was "poor" and expenditure in this area exceeded budgets by 38%.

As well as the € 600,000 spent on the un-used television advertisement, the agency spent a further € 600,000 with no services at all delivered.

Criticising the wasteful expenditure of FÁS, John Buckley said that "public procurement requirements were not met".

Overall, the report finds that advertising and promotional activities lacked strategic direction and that much of the advertising was ineffective in increasing awareness of FÁS services.

On the basis of what is known by now, there are good reasons to abolish FÁS as an independent agency and to divide its obligations between two government departments: Education (for the training elements) and Enterprise, Trade & Employment (for the work-related and employment duties).

It would also be sensible to prosecute FÁS employees who were responsible for the enormous spending spree and the massive waste of taxpayers' money and try to re-coup as much of it as possible from guilty individuals.
But as things are in Ireland, this is rather unlikely. Those close to the government here get away with everything and are never punished. The ordinary Irish people are instead burdened with the costs of government follies and the many failures and mistakes of its countless agencies.
If one would not know better, one might think Ireland is still a feudal state in the Middle Ages.

The Emerald Islander

For further details about the scandals and wastefulness of FÁS see also my entries of November 22nd, 25th, 26th & 27th, 2008.

Serious Allegations against FÁS

An investigation into the expenditure of FÁS (Foras Áiseanna Saothair), Ireland's national training and employment authority, will be undertaken by the State's Comptroller & Auditor General, John Buckley.

(see also my yesterday's entries)

This official step has been taken reluctantly by the Tánaiste (and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment) Mary Coughlan (right), after speculations and serious allegations in the media created a demand for answers to two questions:

1) Why is FÁS getting so much money?
2) What are they doing with it all?

It has emerged that the annual budget of FÁS is more than one billion Euros, and it has steadily increased over the recent years of economic boom, growth and prosperity.

One wonders why the national training and employment authority was receiving and spending a lot more money during a time of very low unemployment, when they had really little to do, than during times of high unemployment.

The matter was first raised in Seanad Éireann by one man, independent Senator Shane Ross (left), who remained at first a lonely voice demanding clarity about the running and financial affairs of FÁS. None of the 59 other Senators seemed interested or offered support.
However, after Senator Ross went public - including an appearance on the popular Late Late Show (on RTÉ 1 television) last Friday evening - the media as well as several opposition politicians began to take up the matter as well.

Even though the Tanaiste declared that she has confidence in the leadership of FÁS, there are many serious questions about the operation of the agency. John Buckley will need some time to investigate, and it will be very interesting to read his report in due course.

The Emerald Islander

FÁS under Investigation

An investigation into the expenditure of FÁS, Ireland's national training and employment agency, over the past eight years is to be undertaken by John Buckley, the State's Comptroller & Auditor General. (see also my entry from earlier today)

A spokesperson for the Tánaiste (and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment) Mary Coughlan, who made the announcement, said the investigation was "in response to speculation and negative publicity about FÁS".

Asked if there was any reaction from his department, the spokesperson added that "the Minister has confidence in the leadership of FÁS and will wait for the outcome of the examination, before deciding whether or not any action is warranted".

How the State wastes our Money

Brian Lenihan, our new Minister for Finance, is busy with looking for extra money anywhere inside the large State apparatus, in order to plug the gaps that incompetence, imprudence and sloppy management have created under his predecessor, the current Taoiseach.

And he is certainly reading the just published annual report of the State's Comptroller & Auditor General (someone very important, of whose existence hardly anyone knows). It might give him some extra grey hair or headaches to learn how much of taxpayers' money was - in 2007 alone - wasted by the Irish government and her many departments and agencies.

John Buckley, the Comptroller & Auditor General, strongly criticised HSE managers for failing to act promptly to address a budget overrun of € 245 million. In his annual report for 2007 he also criticises them for "assuming they would be 'bailed out' with extra funding".

He describes elements of the health service as "fragmented, disjointed and difficult for patients to access".
By November 2006, the HSE knew that its 2007 allocation for existing services would be around € 341 million short. But senior management did not implement a break-even plan to secure savings until July 2007, in the end securing savings of only € 96 million.

Previous practice on budget overruns had led to the expectation by certain managers that they would be 'bailed out' with extra funding. "This 'wait and see' culture must be discouraged," says Mr. Buckley.

Taxpayers will also be fascinated to learn that the Revenue Commissioners made an undisclosed voluntary settlement of almost € 1.7 million with the Inspector of Taxes. The Comptroller & Auditor General says the payment related to unpaid benefit-in-kind tax for the Revenue's own staff. (One wonders how competent they are with other people's money if they cannot even run their own office properly...)

The report also says that 200 new Garda cars - costing € 3.8 million - lay idle for 14 months after they were purchased, because the Garda garage could not cope with fitting out such a large number of vehicles with their existing facilities and manpower.

Free election literature for Oireachtas members cost the state up to an extra € 3.3 million because, for legal reasons, the State did not qualify for a bulk discount available to other An Post clients.

Mr. Buckley criticises the continuing payment of special border duty allowances to members of the Defence Forces, long after the original reason for them disappeared.
He also highlights a savings scheme that cost € 1 million a year to administer, despite generating less than € 4.5 million annually.
And over € 9 million was advanced to local bodies for flood relief, despite the fact that it will not be utilised until 2009.

The Comptroller & Auditor General raises also concerns about the lack of competitive processes in the procurement of goods and services in the prison service.

If you are interested in more details, the full report is available under this link:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0922/comptrollerreport.pdf

It makes some very interesting reading.

The Emerald Islander