Government changes story on Fás chief’s payout
After initially saying Mr Molloy deserved the money for “acting honourably” in stepping down after a culture of waste was uncovered at the training agency, then insisting the settlement was due to his threat of legal action – a claim later contradicted by the Taoiseach – Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said the matter was merely an “early retirement issue”.
Mr Lenihan tried to divert attention from the huge payoff for Mr Molloy by saying he would move to end such packages for senior civil servants in future.
The Finance Minister said payments would be brought down by a new system pegging them to similar positions in Europe, not the Irish private sector.
Mr Lenihan said the Government had not sought legal advice before agreeing to give Mr Molloy the lucrative deal because it was a “retirement issue,” not a dismissal one.
Fine Gael accused the cabinet of not telling the truth. Labour leader Eamon Gilmore again questioned the Government’s claim that it had acted on legal guidelines in the Molloy case, as he accused ministers of “shifting ground on a number of occasions” regarding why the payments had been authorised.
Mr Gilmore said the Taoiseach should now move Tánaiste and Enterprise Minister Mary Coughlan to another Government department because of the way she had handled the affair.
However, Mary Coughlan tried to claw back some credibility in the row by insisting she had not delayed acting after the scandal of waste at Fás first came to light.
The Tánaiste insisted she had “acted immediately” after receiving a report on the situation at Fás when she took up her post in May 2008, and asked the Comptroller and Auditor General to carry out a further investigation.
Ms Coughlan said it was clear she needed to get Fás to replace Mr Molloy.
“I knew in my experience as a politician, in meeting with the chairman and the director general at the time, that Mr Molloy was going to be very reluctant to move aside. He was of the view – a view which he is entitled to have – that he didn’t do anything wrong.
“Equally, I knew in my deliberations with him that he would not move unless he obtained an enhanced package with regard to his entitlements,” she said, insisting the package had been within Finance Department guidelines.
Fine Gael enterprise spokesman Leo Varadkar said the Government was not telling the truth.
“They are in disarray on the issue and are quite clearly making up explanations to explain away a sweetheart deal with Rody Molloy,” he said.
