Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

Many of the issues we are now discussing were identified in the internal auditor's report. That report was provided to us at the same time that it was provided to this committee and put into the public domain. It was an effective piece of work in terms of identifying the shortcomings in the organisation. The report was initially requested by the management of the VEC.

The Deputy asked Mr. Owens about two matters in particular, namely, the early retirement and the eligible learners. At the time when the early retirement occurred, the Department had set out procedures for teachers and special needs assistants employed in VECs but not for the other categories of staff. The VEC acted in the context of our guidelines and procedures but once we learned about the matter we immediately set out the procedures for other staff. The staff member who retired was not a teacher. In our comprehensive update of the Youthreach guidelines, we have addressed many of the issues discussed today, including the way in which Youthreach is managed, funded and staffed, as well as the recruitment and retention of learners and eligibility of non-EU nationals. We have put in place detailed requirements in respect of each of these areas.