TÁNAISTE AND Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan has said she is going to ask Comptroller Auditor General John Buckley to move immediately and launch an inquiry into State training authority Fás.
Ms Coughlan, in an interview with The Irish Times, said that when she initially asked Mr Buckley to look into matters of concern at Fás, he said he would first have to wait for the completion of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiry into Fás to end.
"And I agreed to that," she said. "However, I am changing my mind on that because I want this done now. My secretary will be speaking to the CAG on that."
Fás has a budget of €1 billion and reports to Ms Coughlan's department. "I need my answers because I have to run and manage the situation."
Ms Coughlan said she did not want to allow the controversy about Fás to drag on and have it affecting the morale of its staff. "It's very important for me to refocus Fás into supporting those who are unemployed."
The PAC committee inquiry was initiated as a result of the findings of an internal audit report into the corporate affairs division in Fás. While the committee has to date only been given a redacted copy of the report, for legal reasons, The Irish Timeshas seen the complete document.
The report deals with apparent breaches of procurement rules by the corporate affairs division and raises concerns about a range of issues to do with the then director of the division, Greg Craig.
One of the many issues covered by the report is one to do with a Toyota car displayed during a Fás Opportunities fair in 2000. The car was being offered as a raffle prize to those who attended the event and completed a Fás registration form. Mr Craig told the audit team it was discovered at a late stage no licence for the raffle had been arranged and it was cancelled.
"However, internal audit has determined that the car was displayed during the event and very many attendees completed forms on the basis that they were being entered into a draw that, according to Greg Craig, did not occur."
Fás was invoiced for the cost of the car by Ultimate Events, which managed the fair. Mr Craig told the audit team he believed the cost was credited back to Fás. "From an analysis of material available to internal audit, this seemed not to have been the case," the report said. "When Greg Craig was made aware of this, he said that Fás was then owed a credit in this regard. In the view of internal audit, this is a matter that needs to be further investigated."
The annual Opportunities fairs were a major element of the annual corporate affairs budget. In 2005 the budget for the event was close to €2 million. According to the report, no real competitive tendering took place in a number of areas related to the event and "contractors were aware they were getting the work before they tendered. It appeared that Greg Craig exercised the ultimate decision as to which contractor received work for Opportunities events."