The following is a list of entertainments enjoyed by FÁS staff and others at taxpayer’s expense (Comptroller and Auditor General
Special Report).
Note that these luxuries were being availed of right up to 2008 when the economy was falling apart and there’s no reason to believe that anything has changed.
Expenditure on Events
3.52 Over the period 2002 to 2008, FÁS paid a net €35,000 for tickets to events including match and concert tickets and hospitality associated with some of the events. The details of the tickets purchased were as follows€43,100 was paid for four ten-year match tickets. Two tickets were purchased in 2005 at a cost of €20,000 and two further tickets in 2007 at a cost of €23,100.
Following the appointment of a Director General on an interim basis in late 2008 a decision was taken to cancel the tickets.
In May 2009, FÁS received the sum of €33,800 as reimbursement for the unexpired terms of the tickets. The net cost of the tickets was €9,300.
€7,000 for tickets for the All Ireland hurling and football finals.Ten tickets were purchased for each final for the years 2006 to 2008 inclusive while between four and eight tickets were purchased for each final for the years 2002 to 2005.
€4,640 for tickets for rugby internationals between 2006 and 2008.
€1,960 for tickets for soccer internationals in 2007 and 2008.
€3,724 for concert tickets in the period 2005 to 2008.
€8,299 for hospitality at events. This included €2,255 at the Robbie Williams concert in 2006 and amounts incurred at the All Ireland Finals (€2,244 in 2005, €2,300 in 2006 and €1,500 in 2007).3.53 All but one of the payments were approved by the former Director General. The remaining payment was approved by the ADG who was Secretary to the Board.
There was no evidence on the FÁS files to indicate how the expenditure was relevant to FÁS’s business.
FÁS could not provide this information and wrote to the former Director General seeking information about the payments.
No response was provided before the finalisation of this report.
Once again we see a senior civil servant (perhaps that should be changed to self – servant) giving the two fingers to taxpayers.
In this case it seems former Director General of FÁS, Rody Molloy, is too busy spending his €900,000 to bother answering questions.