Revealed: Fás spent more than €100,000 on Croke Park entertainment

FÁS spent more than €100,000 on tickets for matches, concerts and other entertainment events in Croke Park stadium over the past two years.

The new details of excessive spending at the state training and employment agency comes as a number of former officials appear at the Dáil committee today examining how it spent public money.

Christy Cooney, assistant director general at Fás and president-elect of the GAA, was last night invited before the public accounts committee (PAC) committee for the second time.

He is expected to answer questions today at the last PAC meeting before it publishes its report on alleged financial irregularities in Fás. A key figure in their investigation, suspended director of corporate affairs Greg Craic, is refusing to appear at today’s committee.

Chairman Bernard Allen, (FG), said the committee are not prepared to put up with any more “delays or frustrations” in proceedings and hope to publish their report in mid-January.

It has emerged the agency spent more than €40,000 on four ten-year premium tickets at the Croke Park stadium, which gave access to all GAA games including the all-Ireland final.

It spent a further €40,000 on tickets for music concerts and non-GAA sporting events. It also spent excessive sums dining at the stadium when they attended events. At a PAC meeting earlier this month, Fás officials were asked why they moved their annual Opportunities job fair from the RDS in Dublin to Croke Park. The committee was told the fair was moved because of concerns for the safety of people crossing the road near the RDS — a claim that the RDS have asked to be withdrawn.

Today’s meeting will also be attended by Health Minister Mary Harney’s husband and former Fás chairman, Brian Geoghegan.