Fàs involved in ridiculous spending up to €5.7m - €900 on golf, €400 on beau

turgon

What a joke in this and age. If it was anywhere else it would actually be funny. Hats of to Cowen, minister of Finance Givaways

Mr. Incognito

I have a theory on this, that the Greens are the only thing holding this pathethic show together. I think we, the Irish people, should picket Green Party candidates clinics, instead of going to Leinster House or Parnell Square, the OAP's, the students, the teachers, the UNEMPLOYED, should set organising civil protests, unruly protests if necessary, for the sole purpose of getting the Green Party out of government. Then the majority party, FF, can't continue in office.

Yes, before it was the evil PD's not it's the evil greens. Wake the fcuk up. It's Finna Fail's government. The greens are relegated to environment and some other ****e portfolio and have no influence whatsoever.

sceptre

MeatProduct wrote: »

Anyone know the address of this website we all contributed to? I want to look at it from a web developers point of view to see what I have to do to earn that money. Seriously.

What's described as a "jobs Ireland" website could well be jobsireland.ie. Of course that just forwards to fas.ie. Given what's been outlined so far, it wouldn't entirely surprise me if there were two bills for the same site.

biko

They should get Ingvar Kamprad to run the place.

Rank on Forbes.com 2005 World’s Billionaires List: 6
Net Worth: $23 billion
Vehicles Owned: 1993 Volvo 240 GL


Founder of the Swedish furniture and home goods company IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad is the proud owner of an old Volvo 240 GL. Though he may own a Volvo, Kamprad still takes the bus and even uses his pensioners’ discount card, as he explained in a rare 1999 interview. Despite being a double-digit billionaire, Kamprad also still flies economy class and avoids luxury hotels. In fact, in his self-scribed 1976 Bible, “A Furniture Dealer's Testament,” Kamprad decries that “IKEA people do not drive flashy cars or stay at luxury hotels.” Indeed, Ingvar Kamprad practices what he preaches.

Frankie Lee

biko wrote: »

They should get Ingvar Kamprad to run the place.

Rank on Forbes.com 2005 World’s Billionaires List: 6
Net Worth: $23 billion
Vehicles Owned: 1993 Volvo 240 GL


Founder of the Swedish furniture and home goods company IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad is the proud owner of an old Volvo 240 GL. Though he may own a Volvo, Kamprad still takes the bus and even uses his pensioners’ discount card, as he explained in a rare 1999 interview. Despite being a double-digit billionaire, Kamprad also still flies economy class and avoids luxury hotels. In fact, in his self-scribed 1976 Bible, “A Furniture Dealer's Testament,” Kamprad decries that “IKEA people do not drive flashy cars or stay at luxury hotels.” Indeed, Ingvar Kamprad practices what he preaches.

The owners of H&M do the same. Feckin Swedes.

ejmaztec

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/public-outrage-leads-to-ban-on-firstclass-travel-1556204.html

I see that its economy class all the way now and also credit-card limits cut from €76K to €5K.


Don't be surprised if you see some guy in a suit, thumbing a lift and holding a placard with "Florida" on it.

markpb

It's a good start but frankly it should apply to the entire public service. There's no reason for anyone in the civil service to justify that kind of expenditure.

CantGetNoSleep

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Yes, before it was the evil PD's not it's the evil greens. Wake the fcuk up. It's Finna Fail's government. The greens are relegated to environment and some other ****e portfolio and have no influence whatsoever.

So why do they come out and publicly back things like this?

Just as they back cutting back on crucial vaccinations and cuts in education spending?

I agree that they may have had little influence in these policies but they are the only ones in a position to do something about them in the immediate future. Instead they choose to blindly back Fianna Fail for the sake of their Ministerial salaries

markpb

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

I agree that they may have had little influence in these policies but they are the only ones in a position to do something about them in the immediate future. Instead they choose to blindly back Fianna Fail for the sake of their Ministerial salaries

I don't think you're being entirely fair to them. Being pragmatic they have two options. One is to publicly speak out against FF policies which will leave them totally out in the cold - still in government but with no ability to get anything done. The alternative is to support FF while working in the background to make changes to their policies.

sooper

You know this whole Roddy Molloy thing astounds me. I run a FAS scheme where participants work hard for 222 a week (just enough for half a hairdo). If I spend any money on luxuries such as say light and heat or staff training I have to produce 2 receipts - one on a specially commissioned FAS form and another on the suppliers letterhead. Copies of all cheques must be kept and cross checked with the invoice. They then do a very detailed audit every year. I couldn't get away with ordering a paperclip for myself. So how the guys at the top have carried on is a slap in the face to all of us poor eejits.

ejmaztec

sooper wrote: »

You know this whole Roddy Molloy thing astounds me. I run a FAS scheme where participants work hard for 222 a week (just enough for half a hairdo). If I spend any money on luxuries such as say light and heat or staff training I have to produce 2 receipts - one on a specially commissioned FAS form and another on the suppliers letterhead. Copies of all cheques must be kept and cross checked with the invoice. They then do a very detailed audit every year. I couldn't get away with ordering a paperclip for myself. So how the guys at the top have carried on is a slap in the face to all of us poor eejits.

Who actually does these audits? Some of the projects that I was involved with several years ago were licences to extract "strange" expenses by the people running them. Even the audits that were carried out each year were ineffectual due to the fee not being high enough for the local independent auditor to carry out a thorough job with the time available. No-one from Fas ever showed up to examine anything at any of these projects.

CantGetNoSleep

markpb wrote: »

I don't think you're being entirely fair to them. Being pragmatic they have two options. One is to publicly speak out against FF policies which will leave them totally out in the cold - still in government but with no ability to get anything done. The alternative is to support FF while working in the background to make changes to their policies.

No i'm not - they clearly have a third option - speak up against Fianna Fail and leave Government if it doesn't change anything, this is the only way any of them will be re-elected again. Otherwise they are likely to go the same way as the PD's

MeatProduct

sceptre wrote: »

What's described as a "jobs Ireland" website could well be jobsireland.ie. Of course that just forwards to fas.ie. Given what's been outlined so far, it wouldn't entirely surprise me if there were two bills for the same site.

I only see cosmetic changes to the old FAS jobs website there. So I can't imagine that cost €1.7 million, it must be a different URL. Anybody know it? Is it so hard for us to know what our money got us? I'm sure lots of other developers out there would love to see what site can be developed for €1.7 million.

They are mocking all of us, this is a joke and we sit on our arses and take it, myself included. We are so bloody apathetic.

Nick

mike65

More scandal today, FAS blowing half a million on a TV ad (!) that was never screened.

rte

A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General has strongly criticised expenditure and financial controls in the state training agency FÁS.

According to John Buckley's report, between 2002 and 2008, FÁS spent just over €48m on advertising and promotional activities - the largest advertising spend in the non-commercial State sector.
However, Mr Buckley found that budgetary control was poor - and expenditure in this area exceeded budgets by 38%.

Criticising wasteful expenditure, he pointed to €600,000 spent on a television advertisement which was never broadcast, and a further €600,000 for which no services at all were delivered.

He also said that public procurement requirements were not always met.

Overall, the report finds that advertising and promotional activities lacked strategic direction and that much of the advertising was ineffective in increasing awareness of FÁS services.

The report identifies a number of areas where improvements could be made to the systems, practices and procedures employed by FÁS.

In the coming months, the Comptroller and Auditor General will issue a second report covering governance and internal control in the Agency. The office examines how over 350 public bodies spend their

Seth Brundle

RTE.ie wrote:

Tánaiste Mary Coughlan said she would accept the resignations of the FÁS board if they were offered to her.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0910/fas.html

Can she really not insist on resignations?

Boskowski

kbannon wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0910/fas.html

Can she really not insist on resignations?

I'm sure they'll come with a nice payout, too.

jprender

What's this about accepting resignations ?

Why don't they just fire the incompetent fcukers ?

This crap about "resignations" makes me sick.

Liam Byrne

jprender wrote: »

What's this about accepting resignations ?

Why don't they just fire the incompetent fcukers ?

This crap about "resignations" makes me sick.

Probably an inbuilt "people in glasshouses" issue when it comes to FF....

petergfiffin

I think the reason they're not firing them is because if they fire them then there's a good chance it will impact their pensions so it will inevitably end up in court and I don't imagine the government want their dirty laundry being washed in public. Good chance a lot of these guys in Fas know where the bodies are buried so to speak so if the government do fire them a lot of damaging stuff will come out.

Listening to Cowen on the radio today saying there was no point in firing these guys seeing as the board is due to be replaced is complete rubbish....bit like saying there's no point in sending somebody off for a bad tackle cause the match is nearly over anyway....if they've done anything wrong they should be publicly sacked to send a clear message.

murfie

petergfiffin wrote: »

..................Listening to Cowen on the radio today saying there was no point in firing these guys seeing as the board is due to be replaced..........

This is what i cannot understand either, he really is trying to not rub the board up the wrong way for some reason. They must hold some major clout in the FF party. The board needs to be removed, I have heard enough of the FAS mishandling to funds, its something new every few months!!

zootroid

jprender wrote: »

What's this about accepting resignations ?

Why don't they just fire the incompetent fcukers ?

This crap about "resignations" makes me sick.

Because they tolerated them for so long, firing them now would look as though they approved of them the whole time.

But the way these people at the top of public sector organisations treat themselves makes me sick. They've gone beyond arrogance, and just need to be fired straight away, and no golden parachute this time.

mike65

Biffos department expenditure is under examination so he wouldn't fancy drawing attention to himself on this issue.

petergfiffin

murfie wrote: »

They must hold some major clout in the FF party. The board needs to be removed, I have heard enough of the FAS mishandling to funds, its something new every few months!!

I wonder how much of this leniency has to do with the Minister for Health's hubby's stint as chairman?? Maybe she's worried about how far this goes back, and this is the whole thing about it, if the government don't act decisively people will make up their own reasons as to why they aren't doing something.

juuge

And there are still those that will vote for Fianna Fáil.............

stepbar

jprender wrote: »

What's this about accepting resignations ?

Why don't they just fire the incompetent fcukers ?

This crap about "resignations" makes me sick.

Correct me if I'm wrong but a Civil Servant can't be fired. Correct?

Madness I know........

donkey balls

john gormely TD worked for fas as a german teacher years ago i wonder was he aware of what was going on back then

Sir Oxman

And there's more...:mad:

"Controversial former Fas boss Rody Molloy had his pension boosted by an estimated €1.4m after the intervention of two senior government ministers, who are this weekend blaming each other over the affair.

Molloy, who presided over an incredible culture of waste at the €1bn-a-year state agency, has now, as a result of the intervention, a total pension worth more than €4m.

The Sunday Independent can reveal that when Mr Molloy resigned, Tanaiste Mary Coughlan intervened to bump up his pension and the move was rubber stamped by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan."


Usual question: Why no sackings? what is it with this country that no-one bats an eye when stuff like this is exposed yet in the UK, heads roll as soon as there's a whisper about £5 being overspent?
Okay, exagerration on the £5, but the difference in attitude is huge.

Rotten, rotten Banana Republic of Ireland.

Nottoosure

I work for FAS on a 6 month contract basis, I'm paid for less than 20 hours a week, but do far more hours, as, like a lot of FAS tutors, I care. The place we have to teach in is dowdy, cold (we have to wait until January for a fill of oil - no money!!!!), the lighting is insufficient (I've brought in lamps from my home to compensate).

On last Friday we were told to make an order for stationery as there may be no money in the future, we ordered a lot of ink, because we need to print off a lot of material for portfolios at the end of the course. When I heard money for stationery now, maybe not later, I thought that ink and paper was very important to get the portfolios together for these people.

You will not believe, we got a serious rap on the knuckles for "over-ordering", it wasn't like we ordered a pucking car!!! Ink & paper will always be an asset to any business (it's not going to go off).

They make me sick. They micro-manage and treat trainees and tutors like sh1t at the bottom, but treat themselves to the high life at the top. Their qualification to be at the top? FF hacks, that's the beginning & the end of it.

bonzos

FAS is the best example of FF and union heads in operation at the top level ..screw everyone in sight and refuse to accept blame for anything!These cowboys on the board will just be moved to another handy overpaid job,big thanks to all the FF voters who continue to vote and defend a party with a proven track record of corrpution...CJH,Bertie,Ray Burke,Flynns etc...and god knows how many more at local level:rolleyes:

DublinWriter

Q. Why is it you don't see the opposition making political capital out of this?

A. *All* snouts are in the trough in Leinster House and elsewhere.

The corruption is endemic. All least the Brits had the morality to resign, but then again their expenses were itemised, Irish politicians expenses aren't.