Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

When I raised this issue yesterday, the first point I made was that I would not impugn the personal integrity of anybody. Did the Taoiseach discuss this with the Tánaiste before she contacted Mr. Molloy yesterday in terms of her conversation with him? Does the Taoiseach take the view that the audit committee of FÁS is representative of Ministers and Departments?

If they did not know about this, they should have been in the position of finding out, given that they represent the taxpayer. If they did know about it and its extent, then they are guilty of criminal negligence. This organisation now has a very bad name, even though it has done some great work over the years. In that context, the Taoiseach should ask the members of the board to consider their positions.

We are at the start of a values revolution in Ireland, as I have already said in other fora. In the past, we had the situation where the Taoiseach's predecessor saw no difference between right and wrong in accepting large sums of money over the counter. In this Chamber he told us that members of various boards were appointed on the basis of friendship. Irrespective of the party involved, this is a consequence of being in power for too long.

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