Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

I wish to share time with Deputies Mary Upton, Ruairí Quinn, Kathleen Lynch and Jan O'Sullivan.

The recent scandals at FÁS have taken the organisation to such new lows that its name alone evokes any number of negative connotations. Its unfortunate association with the Fianna Fáil Party has cast a further shadow over its reputation. Whether one argues that this patronage is real or perceived, it is now time to end the era of the nod and the wink and sever the long association with the Fianna Fáil movement. It is time to break this unofficial link and rebuild the organisation so that FÁS can re-ignite a sense of trust in those who avail of its services. Let us be sure that people will from now on be 100% confident that FÁS is apolitical in its approach to everything it does. We must strive to bring FÁS back from the brink and excise from its employment anyone who is being carried unnecessarily. Its upper echelons have tarnished the authority's standing in the public eye. The reasons for this are well documented and have been covered extensively by my colleague, Deputy Shortall.

However, we must be mindful of the fact that there is much to praise in FÁS. The Labour Party is determined to assist in the restoration of its reputation. It is important to acknowledge the good work that currently goes on in FÁS, which has a network of 66 regional offices and 20 training centres across the country. The majority of its work is carried out at a grass-roots level through the hard work of its training and education supervisors, employment scheme participants, business advisers and recruitment specialists. It has specifically catered for the marginalised in our society. Through initiatives aimed at people with disabilities and members of the Traveller community, FÁS has always sought to empower and include all citizens of our country at a grass-roots level. Its wider horizons initiative aims at increasing understanding among young people north and south of the Border, reconciling the two traditions while increasing work skills for every participant. At ground level, the work carried out by FÁS helps people from all walks of life to find jobs and obtain training, and promotes work throughout our communities. We must not ignore this.

My experience of FÁS at a local level has been positive, and it would be unfair to associate the local workers with the shenanigans of those within the hierarchy. What these people on the ground represent is far removed from what the hierarchy has come to embody. Where it represented neglect, the work of those on the ground is characterised by a sense of duty and obligation to the people they were supervising through the community employment schemes and in the various offices throughout the 66 centres. Where waste is widespread among a minority at the upper level, the majority have come to represent a significant investment in our communities. This cannot be overlooked in our efforts to reform the organisation. FÁS has given hope to many in terms of their own personal circumstances and those of their neighbourhoods. I am representative of a largely rural constituency and I have seen first hand the benefits yielded by the community schemes, spearheaded by FÁS and managed by local people working within those communities.

As with all State-funded bodies, cutbacks have affected the services offered to people in both rural and urban communities. The idea that the waste at the top level of FÁS ran parallel with the reduction of valuable services to communities has angered the public and the body politic alike. We have every right to be angry but we must differentiate between the person in the board room and the worker on the street. Our anger must be channelled appropriately. This anger laments the fact that this fine institution should have become a vessel for such waste when it has been a force for good. I believe it can be a force for good again, but we must bring about the necessary changes.

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