Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

The Order Paper does not accommodate the issue raised by Members which concerns the wider public. This issue is the significant erosion of confidence in FÁS as a very important body entrusted with the training and retraining of people in the workforce, the greater number of whom are unemployed. That is a very serious matter which must be addressed in the House. I do not believe, with the continuous drip-drip release of information in recent days, that we can allow for time to elapse before we receive the report from the Comptroller and Auditor General. We need to address this urgently in the House in order to restore that confidence.

I call on the Government to provide for the required time on the Order Paper so that these matters can be addressed. The most important thing today is not what moneys were spent on the Minister's hair-do. The most important thing to do is to restore confidence in FÁS, which is a significant agency of the State and which has been seriously damaged. I ask the Minister to accommodate an opportunity——

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