Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

In his report on non-commercial semi-State bodies published in May 2008, the Comptroller and Auditor General reviewed the issues raised in one specific FÁS internal audit report.

I discussed this matter with the director general of FÁS and have expressed my concerns about the issues raised by both the Comptroller and Auditor General and the internal audit report, and in particular, the need to secure value for money in public expenditure. On my instruction, the Secretary General of my Department wrote to FÁS on 30 June 2008 seeking the formal assurance of the director general that the practices outlined in the audit reports of FÁS and the Comptroller and Auditor General had ceased and that adequate systems and controls were in place to prevent any recurrence and requesting details of the remedial actions taken by FÁS in respect of the issues raised by the audit reports, with quarterly progress reports on the implementation of the audit reports' recommendations. The director general replied on 1 July confirming that the unacceptable practices referred to in the audit reports had ceased. A further response was received at the end of October, which set out the progress being made on the issue of controls on procurement and the observance of the procurement policy of FÁS.

Following discussions with the chairman and director general, I decided that there should be an external investigation into the effectiveness of the financial management and control systems generally in place in FÁS, rather than be limited to aspects raised in the internal audit report that gave rise to the special report. The Comptroller and Auditor General has acceded to my request to consider doing such a review. My intention in requesting this review is to ensure that appropriate public procurement procedures exist to prevent or detect irregularities or wrongdoing and to examine and report on the activities of the FÁS corporate affairs area since 2000 to achieve reasonable assurance as to whether there were any occasions of potential fraud or irregularity in that area other than those already brought to light by the FÁS internal audit unit.

It is a matter for the Comptroller and Auditor General to determine the scope of his investigation. He has indicated that, in doing so, he will take into account the deliberations at the Committee of Public Accounts hearings on the FÁS element of his special report. The timing of the investigation is a matter for him but, as the Minister responsible for FÁS, I am understandably anxious for it to proceed as quickly as possible so that I may address any issues arising in respect of the financial management and control systems in place within the organisation.

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