FÁS Executive Expenses & Payoffs

[pete]

If you like the PAC report just wait until the Controller & Auditor General produces a detailed reports. I read Bord nGon one last year as their former CEO had become the CCFC CEO. That report all but said fraud had occured by other staff but could not prove in legal sense.

As said above reports never come out & say fraud was carried out if they even touch the subject you can be sure there is a lot more between the lines.

It appears, based on the evidence presented, that there was a deliberate policy to control how the advertising budget was used, ultimately to the benefit of certain individuals and media groups.

The Committee also questioned why the event in Dublin moved to Croke Park from the RDS and while the evidence given indicated that it was for safety reasons and also because food at the RDS was deemed expensive, that
matter has been disputed by the RDS. The Committee understands that the decision was taken by the Director General and it appears that public procurement guidelines were not followed and it will therefore ask that this matter be investigated further.

Our great tax Euro hard at work again.

[John83]

There's never really been an attitude of accountability from politicians here. It takes a hell of a lot to get someone to resign from a ministerial post, much less from the Dail. That attitude is pretty representative of our culture. There's no use blaming the politicians when someone like Beverly Cooper-Flynn will get reelected regardless of any personal involvement in facilitating tax evasion.

[Angus]

There's never really been an attitude of accountability from politicians here. It takes a hell of a lot to get someone to resign from a ministerial post, much less from the Dail. That attitude is pretty representative of our culture. There's no use blaming the politicians when someone like Beverly Cooper-Flynn will get reelected regardless of any personal involvement in facilitating tax evasion.

Firstly, you are absolutely right in the socio political culture. Particularly outside of Dublin, there is an us an them thing with Dublin, so Lowry and BCF get re-elected despite scandals.

However, the "governance" infrastructure is fundamentally - and deliberately - flawed. Successive governments deliberately and consistently outsource the oversight functions to the likes of ODCE, IAASA etc but specifically limit their powers to actually investigate.

The US is completely corrupt but at least when they appoint a special prosecutor, there are no holds barred - yes there is a political ambition element to those prosecutors but they don't mess about.

Somebody like Spitzer of Fitzpatrick in the US would not have produced the mealy mouthed drivel in this report (admittedly, Spitzer was caught with hookers but that is a whole different thread)

[Macy]

Had a slight chuckle at the report calling for IBEC and ICTU not to get nominations to the board. Ultimately, politicians all stick together in the end. Problem wasn't union or employer interference or influence, it was (and is) political interference and influence making people untouchable or at least the impression their untouchable. And as it turns out, they are.

[Angus]

So, just let me be crystal clear on what we know.

Molloy was discovered to be presiding over a regime with colossal waste, and potential fraud (not me making allegation - file handed to DPP).
He then goes on radio to laud it over the public by saying he is "entitled" to travel first class to Miami.

On the grounds that there is no first class flights out of Ireland, he is clearly travelling business to London and then first to Miami

Our "tanaiste" realises his position is untenable and commecnes proceedings to have him go. Now it gets murky. He either did (per the tanaiste) or did not (per the taoiseach today) threaten legal action.

Either way, he ends up with a colossal pay off, no loss of anything and a pension top up, together with €500k ballpark in cash (some taxable some not).

The tanaiste first said it was not up to her to force the board to resign, then Gormley pointed out that it was but then she drafted a press statement (but never released it) saying that the board had her confidence but then said if they resigned she would accept those resignations

Cowan is claiming not to know the detail of the settlement. The department are saying that they took no legal advice on the settlement. The tanaiste said it was to avoid a messy and costly case in the four courts.

Cowan said today there was no threat. The tanaiste is now conducting a review into her own decision on the package - and is now seeking legal advice, despite not having sought legal advice at the time

The board, in an act of almost comical, laughable, ineptitude and cojones free spineless cowardice, are now leading with the "we didn't know" line, "he never told us" "things were kept from us"

Lads - in the history of corporate governance and since the foundation of commerce thousands of years BC, there has never, ever been a situation where everything has been disclosed to a board - it doesn't happen.

You are not on the board to sit there and read documents you are given - you are there to question, to govern, to supervise, to oversee, to ask questions over and above those that have been provided to you, to pursue things into shady corners, to hold the management to account, to demand information, to seek out areas of potential problems.

And quite frankly, you have failed miserable in your task in this situation and are not qualified to ever be on a board, ever again.

This is a shambles but it is the way that politicians operate.

Meanwhile, Rody has the perfect retirement package and can scrath his ass for the rest of his days with your cash, which not only did he not earn, but is d ouble whammy - because he spent the last 10 years wasting more of your cash.

Large trebles all around.

[Macy]

There's already a thread on this somewhere that could be perhaps resurrected, but judging by that idiot Varadker on Pat Kenny earlier, people are finally beginning to investigate the political connections of the whole debacle.

[dahamsta]

Looks like I'll be commenting in here after all, I couldn't possibly let crap like this slide:

RTE: A senior Department of Finance official has defended the severance package awarded to former FÁS Director General Rody Molloy. Public Service Management Division Secretary General Ciarán Connolly was speaking at the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee.

Mr Connolly said it was recognised that Mr Molloy's position was untenable following an interview on the Today With Pat Kenny radio show and it was in the best interests of the organisation for him to step down.

He made the position untenable himself, and it was in the best interests of the organisation to fire him.

He said Mr Molloy had indicated that he would be prepared to step down under terms that he himself found acceptable

And the Department found it acceptable to have terms dictated to them by someone that stole from them?

Mr Connolly said a protracted legal case would have damaged the reputation of FÁS

FAS has a reputation alright...

and added that Mr Molloy's eventual package was in line with public sector norms

This was a "norm"? Although I guess with FF in government...

[Macy]

It is the norm if you know where political bodies are buried.