BOARDS' VIEW:FÁS BOARD chairman Peter McLoone has said he accepts there was unacceptable waste of resources in the past.
Mr McLoone told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday the vast bulk of the wasteful practices in the State training authority were confined to the corporate affairs section.
Mr McLoone was before the committee to assist in its investigations into spending irregularities in Fás. He said the "revelations" uncovered by an audit report and by media were of "great concern" to the board and management.
He said the board was satisfied they were "plugging the leaks" that gave rise to problems in the corporate affairs division. They were now seeking to ensure arrangements in respect of purchasing and procurement were strictly followed, he said.
Questioned by Fianna Fáil TD Darragh O'Brien on whether the "belt-and-braces" procedures the committee was assured had been in place were operational, Mr McLoone said they were.
He said steps had already been taken by the board to deal with the problems in the corporate affairs division earlier this year, before the details of the internal audit report and other information came into the public domain.
A report by the audit committee is being prepared for the board and would be presented this month or in early January, he added.
In an opening statement, Mr McLoone told the committee the current board of 17 members, appointed in January 2006, would take responsibility for the governance of the organisation since 2006. It would also "take responsibility for our handling of past shortcomings that have come to light during our term of office, even if we were not responsible for the shortcomings themselves".
He said he wanted to stress that while "waste took place and was unacceptable, this is not typical of the general approach of the overwhelming majority of those involved in Fás".
Mr McLoone said "public confidence in Fás was rapidly evaporating . . . staff morale was being seriously undermined, and . . . the ability of the organisation to keep focused on the needs of ever-increasing numbers of unemployed people was seriously jeopardised". This was why he had met Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan last September to get agreement to send an external person into Fás to carry out a comprehensive review of the organisation.
He understood the investigation by the Comptroller and Auditor General John Buckley, requested by Ms Coughlan, would not happen until the PAC completed its hearings. Mr McLoone said the "earliest possible commencement" of the CAG inquiry was vital.
PAC chairman Bernard Allen (FG) said the committee was carrying out its investigation "with all the speed and efficiency" it could muster. He said the inquiry had been delayed by the late arrival of Fás documents and the arrival of documents that were "censored or redacted".