Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

The purpose of the Bill is stated as being to effect amendments to improve the effectiveness in governance of the board of FÁS. This is taken against a background where, from 1999 to 2008, the budget for FÁS doubled from €527 million to just over €1 billion. It coincides with the time when we got as near to full employment as we were ever going to get. Supervision and oversight of the spending of this substantial amount of taxpayers' money was given to 18 people appointed by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment representing unions, employers, the Minister and employees. Where did it go wrong? FÁS is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons and this has been going on for up to the past ten months. Rumours have been rife about misappropriation of funds, misconduct, wasting money and even fraud, and these matters have not yet reached their finale.

What the Bill proposes is not only worthy, but essential. However, it is the same old same old. The constitution of the new board will be in the gift of the Minister. In recent weeks, Fine Gael tabled a Bill on transparency of appointments to public office, which would not have cost the State anything. It would not have cost the Ministers involved anything to have yielded to what we were trying to do. It was all about openness, transparency and accountability. The Bill seeks to reduce membership of the board from 18 to 11 and states that people will be appointed on their merits, taking into account particular talents and experience. Previously, we have seen where this has not been the case. There is no due selection process for anyone other than the Minister and accountability is not satisfactory.

People are losing employment at a rate we have never experienced previously. When FÁS had a budget of €1 billion, why did it not prepare for a rainy day? We read about abuses, splurges and money being wasted. Be that as it may, why is there no evidence of a plan for the day when the bubble would burst? Perhaps it was not anticipated that it would have been to the rate, extent and speed that it occurred, but it was inevitable, as night follows day, that this day was going to come. FÁS is not catching up and not only this but its agenda seems to be to firefight the allegations being made about it. I have spoken to people in Wicklow about this and they are somewhat demoralised because the focus is not on new initiatives and training programmes.

We hear the Minister discuss initiatives that are being taken. If a small business which employed five people was wound up, those five people would be entitled to jobseeker's benefit and allowance. I have spoken to people who were self-employed owners of such a business. They and their families have cried down the telephone to me. Their assets may be in examinership. They are going to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul because they cannot access a bob. FÁS and the Department of Social and Family Affairs need to be able to co-ordinate a plan for such people. These are uncharted waters but we have to be able to accommodate them. People in this situation cannot qualify for retraining programmes because they are not entitled to jobseeker's allowance.

I believe that if they have assets or money over the value of €40,000 it is counted against them. In time, some of these people will employ again if they get through this, obtain credit and re-establish themselves when the economy picks up. They are our innovators. The problem is that they are not allowed to put money into a seed capital account and this should be considered. They should be allowed to do so and have that money disregarded for the purposes of allowances and benefits. They should then be allowed retrain and reskill because they are the people who had initiative. We saw them on television and read about them when they were starting up their businesses and working 18 hours a day to get them off the ground. Many of these people are now in trouble. This is not of their own making; circumstances have caught up with them.

I know it is outside the ambit of the Bill but I appeal to the Minister of State to take this into account in establishing how the new FÁS board will be constituted and how its role and functions will be overseen. FÁS should also re-evaluate what it wants to do. Unfortunately, as has been stated, everything about FÁS in the media at present is negative. It is not about job creation or stimulating the economy and working with people with initiative. Enterprise Ireland, county enterprise boards and FÁS should work in harmony and there should be a consultative arrangement between the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, FÁS and local social welfare offices.

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