Tánaiste in row over Fás report leaks

TÁNAISTE Mary Coughlan was embroiled in an explosive row last night over the leaking of parts of confidential reports into financial controversies in Fás.

Chairman of the Dáil’s influential Public Accounts Committee Bernard Allen took the highly unusual step of writing to Ms Coughlan expressing dismay and anger at the way sensitive reports handed to her department have ended up in the media.

Mr Allen says he is “alarmed” at what he calls the “selective leaking” of material compiled by the State’s financial watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), regarding the €1m pension bonus given to former Fás boss Rody Molloy.

Mr Allen says only the CAG’s office and that of the Tánaiste were privy to the contents of a report into the Molloy issue which the PAC was told was to be referred to the Attorney General in December as part of the official review of the retirement package.

Mr Allen is also furious that a second CAG report into the culture of financial waste at Fás submitted to the Tánaiste’s department on December 31, 2009 for clearance and release, had found its way into a Sunday newspaper.

He demanded the full report be published immediately as contents were being deliberately leaked to control the flow of bad news on Fás.

“I am extremely concerned at the selective leaking of the contents of confidential reports dealing with Fás. The leaking of the contents of reports can only be aimed at allowing bad news to be issued in a controlled way, and it does a great disservice to both the work of the Comptroller and Auditor General and to the Committee of Public Accounts, which is charged with examining these issues in order to ensure full accountability for the way resources of the State were handled.

“I have written to the Tánaiste asking that the report of the CAG be published without delay. I also raised with the Tánaiste the fact that information, which in some cases appears to be damning, is being leaked to the media and this does nothing to enhance public accountability.

“We need to get to the bottom of what went on in Fás and it is only when these activities are exposed and when those who engaged in them are made accountable that Fás can move on and provide the services so urgently needed by the almost half a million people that now find themselves out of a job,” Mr Allen said.

Fine Gael enterprise spokesperson Leo Varadkar called for the body to be completely restructured after the emergence of 22 audit reports showed overwhelming evidence of misconduct within the organisation.

The findings could lead to several Fás staff being fired after spending controls were ignored at the €1bn agency.

An external investigator is to review the findings of the audit reports, Fás director general Paul O’Toole said.

The agency has been rocked by a string of financial scandals including the spending of €600,000 on a TV ad never shown and a car bought as a competition prize going missing.