Pressure on Fás as expenses hit €977k

THE Taoiseach faced increasing pressure last night to order a complete overhaul of Fás after it emerged five of the agency’s executives spent nearly €1 million on first-class hotels, restaurants, bars and other lavish facilities.

The long list of credit card bills for the five Fás executives include not only the country’s best eateries and accommodation, but also enormous bills for Greg Craig, and five-star hotels abroad.

Former Fás director general Rody Molloy splashed out thousands on golf. His jaw-dropping credit card receipts include bills for Michelin-star restaurants, the luxurious Raffles Hotel in Singapore, castle dining in Chicago and plush stays in New York’s top hotels.

The job agency’s former head spent nearly €20,950 on restaurants, thousands of which went on meals in Dublin’s L’Ecrivain and Chapter One restaurants.

Some €46,782 was spent on hotels and golf between 2001 and 2008.

Bills were also notched up for menswear, pharmaceutical purchases and beauty salon treatment.

Mr Molloy spent almost €85,000 using two Fás credit cards between 2001 and 2008.

Other executives spent even more money on first-class facilities and fine dining.

The job agency’s former assistant director general Gerry Pyke notched up bills amounting to over €90,000 using two credit cards for the same period.

His receipts include bills for thousands of euro for Ireland’s finest hotels, including the five-star Merrion and top-class stays abroad, such as the Hilton in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Fás manager John Cahill also spent €70,997 on credit cards between the end of 2005 and last year. The agency’s Science Programme Challenge manager included a bill for nearly €800 for a steak house in Orlando, and one for €1,132 for another steak house in New York.

Former Fás public affairs manager Sean Connolly ran up credit card expenses topping €332,000 in an eight-year period.

His credit card bills include one for €1,400 for L’Ecrivain, a bill for a restaurant in China for €1,529, as well as one for €2,200 for Cookes restaurant on Dublin’s Leeson Street.

Expenses were also notched up by the Fás executives for items bought in electrical goods stores, Brown Thomas, top-of-the -range clothes and suit shops.

Hotel bills for tens of thousands of euro are included in the expenses for lavish stays in the US, Japan, Canada, Britain and Asia.

The executives did repay a small amount of costs which were personal expenses.

The four executives spent a total of €577,565.11 on credit cards. This is in addition to €400,000 which it previously emerged was spent by Greg Craig, another Fás executive.

Fine Gael last night called for a complete overhaul of the State’s job agency.

A breakdown of the expenses was obtained by the party’s enterprise spokesman Leo Varadkar under the Freedom of Information Act.

The job agency’s money needed to be targeted at training and getting people back to work rather than on “supporting decadent lifestyles”, he said.

“This is a sickening waste of taxpayers’ money at a time when so many people are being asked to pay so much more in tax,” said the TD.

Fine Gael has expressed concern that many senior Fás officials are still in their jobs, or have retired with large pensions and bonuses after the emergence of the agency’s lavish spending.

Fás said it would be making no comment last night. Calls to the agency’s new chairman Peter McLoone were not returned.