Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 32: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when she will make a reasoned response to the report of the Committee of Public Accounts on mismanagement at FÁS; her views on the recommendations; when she will implement them; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13503/09]

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the report of the Committee of Public Accounts on FÁS and commend the committee for the work carried out in this matter. I note that while the report in general concentrates on what went wrong in FÁS, it also points out that the good work being done by the staff should not be overlooked in any commentary.

Many of the issues contained in the report have already been aired in public. Previously, I have expressed my concerns in respect of various matters raised by internal audit reports in FÁS and subsequently taken up by the Comptroller and Auditor General in his earlier report on a number of public bodies.

Since the publication of these reports, a series of steps has been undertaken to deal with the matters raised. In particular, FÁS has clarified its procedures and strengthened its internal controls, including in the audit and procurement areas, and has passed certain issues to the Garda for investigation. A copy of the internal audit report INV 137, which was the basis for the Comptroller and Auditor General's report, has been sent to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. The Comptroller and Auditor General has commenced a wide-ranging investigation in FÁS, which includes internal controls, governance arrangements, marketing and advertising and specific follow-up of matters raised in the course of hearings of the Committee of Public Accounts. The chairman of FÁS, following a request from my Department has provided an undertaking that FÁS is now fully compliant with Department of Finance regulations on foreign travel. The board of FÁS has stated that whatever additional actions are necessary arising from the report will be fully implemented.

In keeping with standard practice, a formal response to the Committee of Public Accounts on this report will be contained in the minute of the Minister for Finance on the Report of the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fourth Interim Report on Special Report 10 of the Comptroller and Auditor General and FÁS 2007 Accounts. Officials in my Department and FÁS are currently preparing their inputs into the Minister of Finance's minute.

Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am glad to hear that the internal report INV 137 is being referred to the Director of Corporate Enforcement because this was one of the strong recommendations of the report. Many of the recommendations cited in the Minister of State's reply relate to FÁS and to its board. Recommendations were also made with regard to the structure of the board and that the Labour Services Act should be amended to make the director general more accountable. Have these been addressed by the Department?

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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We are taking into account the findings of the report of the Committee of Public Accounts. In fairness, much previous commentary was against the backdrop of these investigations. We will await the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and then do a full evaluation. It would be appropriate that we would only allow the Comptroller and Auditor General to investigate and make recommendations. On foot of that, there will be a full review and analysis of FÁS on all aspects of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report.

Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Does the Minister of State believe the board needs restructuring or that there should be more accountability? Members of the board are appointed directly by the Minister, yet they do not report directly to her. Are there proposals to restructure the board?

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The board is made up of the constituent parts of the social partnership process. There are nominations from the social partners, but we will await the outcome of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. A constitutional position like that deserves respect, and we will do a full evaluation on the report when he publishes it. We have not ruled anything in or out, as the old cliche goes.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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It is important to agree with the Minister of State that good work is being done by staff at FÁS. Will he implement the recommendations of the report?

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Is the Deputy referring to the report of the Committee of Public Accounts or the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General?

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Will he implement the recommendations of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General? When will they implemented?

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the Deputy's comments. Many staff experienced anxiety during the turbulent period before Christmas. We should acknowledge that, especially for frontline staff. The first thing we should do is await the report. When it is finalised and published, there will be broad discussions on its content.

I cannot comment on a report that has not been completed.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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My concern is that there is not any sense of urgency to deal with the issues that have arisen in FÁS. The scandal that came to light in FÁS occurred almost a year ago. We have since had a report published by the Committee of Public Accounts, while the Comptroller and Auditor General is compiling his report now.

Much good work is done in FÁS, but it is also an agency with a budget of more than €1 billion. Much of the work done by that agency is no longer fit for purpose. The Minister of State was with me on "Prime Time" last night, and he heard the stories of the new unemployed, people with skills but for whom FÁS has very little. There is a great opportunity to re-found the agency to make it more relevant to the times in which we live. We can also make it accountable and implement some of the changes in the report of the Committee of Public Accounts. I do not understand why there is no sense of urgency from the Government on this.

Can the Minister of State at least give us a timeframe? Will we have to wait until the recession is over before these measures are implemented? The Government has claimed it is dealing with the structural deficit in the budget and that the Fianna Fáil deficit will be cleared in five years.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is much urgency in this. At the time these problems arose, the Tánaiste requested the Comptroller and Auditor General to go in and do an evaluation. As the Committee of Public Accounts had initiated hearings and discussions, the Comptroller and Auditor General indicated, out of respect for that committee, that he would await its report on FÁS. The Comptroller and Auditor General is in there now. It is a constitutional position and we should afford him the time to investigate and compile a report. When that report is completed, we will have a full discussion on it.

A new CEO will be appointed to FÁS in the very near future. We are very conscious of what is happening. There is a simplistic debate about FÁS and its budget of more than €1 billion. Much of that budget is used as a paymaster budget for allowances, training programmes and so on. It is not a €1 billion budget that is spent on training courses; it is also spent on the allowances for the trainees on those courses. More than 2,200 staff are employed by FÁS and they provide frontline services to the unemployed and in re-training. The idea that €1 billion is being sloshed around the place is factually incorrect, and the Deputy knows that as well as I do. We all accept that FÁS must rise to the challenge, and it is doing that. However, the idea that €1 billion is being spent on training is not correct. It is being spent on the people who are participating in the training programmes.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Priority Question No. 26 was in the name of Deputy Varadkar. I put it to the end of priority questions, but the Deputy was unavoidably detained. I can take it now as an ordinary question, but that will require the agreement of the House. Is that agreed? Agreed.