2008 FÁS expenditure controversy
Encyclopedia
The FÁS expenditure controversy is an ongoing incident in Ireland
in November/December 2008 in which significant public and political outcry has been roused, and at least one senior figure of a government organisation has resigned. The incident first emerged in June 2008 when Dáil Éireann
(the lower house of the Irish parliament) was told one morning by Leader of the Opposition
Enda Kenny
that gardaí
were investigating the alleged misappropriate use of funds by a senior executive within FÁS. The director general of the training and employment agency, Foras Áiseanna Saothair
(FÁS; referred to in the English language
as the Training and Employment Authority), Rody Molloy resigned late on 25 November after revelations that himself and fellow FÁS executives spent hundreds of thousands of euro
belonging to the company on lavish holidays to the United States
, which included first-class travel and expensive rounds of golf
, including €643,000 over a period of four years on transatlantic travel for the purpose of promoting the Science Challenge programme and almost €48,000 in air fares for journeys undertaken by Molloy, sometimes accompanied by his wife. Just prior to this, Taoiseach
Brian Cowen
had publicly defended Molloy before his resignation, amidst increasing public outcry and calls for him to resign by TDs
including the Fine Gael
spokesperson for enterprise Leo Varadkar
. The turning point proved to be an interview Molloy gave to the RTÉ Radio 1
show Today with Pat Kenny
in which he grossly underestimated the tide of public opinion in his defence of his company's expenses. On 24 November, Molloy explained to Pat Kenny
:
broke the story on 23 November 2008 after an investigation by its business editor, Senator Shane Ross
and fellow journalist Nick Webb. Documents were obtained by the duo under the Freedom of Information Act, 1997. Ross later discussed his findings on the current affairs television programme Questions and Answers. Ross and Webb would later win the prestigious Bord Gais journalist of the year award for their scoop, as well as the TV3 story of the year award. "Wasters" a book exposing waste and cronyism in the public sector, by Shane Ross and Nick Webb, was published by Penguin in October 2010.
Asked about the FÁS official who, along with his wife, purchased business class tickets costing €12,021 for a three-week round-the-world trip that took in destinations as exotic as Frankfurt am Main, Tokyo
, Honolulu and San Francisco before a flight back to Dublin via Frankfurt, Molloy confirmed he had signed the expense claim and that the official was at an event in Tokyo on official business associated with the World Skills competition and with the graduate programme FÁS operate in Japan
. He claimed that the official "at his own expense, spent some time on the way back coming back through the US".
Quizzed on the necessity of FÁS's chairman, the trade union boss Peter McLoone, accompanying Molloy on a €7,300 per-person return business class flight to Orlando
, Florida
for a week-long stay, Molloy pointed out that the city "also happens to be very close to the NASA
facility where the shuttle lands and takes off from". He then alluded to the special relationship he claims his organization have built up with NASA over a number of years, a relationship which led to Irish students being given opportunities to work and develop their research skills within NASA. He summed up his view with the line: "I think anyone who knows Florida knows it's not just about Disney World
."
Asked about the FÁS executives who billed the Irish taxpayer for pay-per-view movies ranging in price from $12.71 to $34.40 that they then watched in their U.S. hotel rooms, Molloy compared the price of pay-per-view movies to "chickenfeed", asking the presenter "What's $10 for a movie?". When Kenny informed Molloy that his employers RTÉ did not cover pay-per-view movies in their expenses, Molloy hinted at an "oversight on our part" but reiterated his belief that NASA was a major U.S. government agency and that to develop "relationships" with them was "not easy".
On FÁS's corporate affairs director Greg Craig's company credit card being used to cover a $410 bill at Solutions beauty and nail salon on West Cocoa Beach, Florida in August 2005 (later infamously linked with the politician Mary Harney
), Molloy implied that the amount of money, "in terms of the total package, is very, very small". On the FÁS credit card used to pay $942.53 for Molloy to play a three-ball golf match at the Orlando Florida Grand Cypress Resort Golf club in January 2005, Molloy again defended himself by referring to his "developing relationships" policy. He then apologized for committing "a major sin".
Molloy was then questioned about the clocking up of almost €48,000 in business-class airfares, sometimes accompanied by his wife, over a four-year period. On the most recent of these in February 2008, they ran up an airfare bill of €7,500 for a return trip to the U.S. east coast. In May 2007, the duo flew to New York at a cost of €6,655, both travelling business class. In November 2007 the pair made their return to New York and in doing so ran up airfares of €7,281. Also in 2007 they claimed FÁS expenses of €6,455 for a similar trip, travelling business class again. In June 2005, they visited Boston on a cheaper flight, costing €1,634 and prior to this in July 2004, the duo flew to Orlando at a cost of €9,648 for their business class fares. Molloy emphasized that this was not the "hellishly expensive" first class travel
and that on occasions that his wife had travelled, there had been valid and "appropriate" reasons for this being so. These reasons, he suggested, were "to do with the kind of activities that were involved there", including a dinner involving the President of Ireland
Mary McAleese
and her husband. He then proposed that on such occasions he had traded down his travel "entitlement" (he alleged an entitlement to travel first class) to allow his wife to buy a ticket on the plane with the leftover money.
Finally Molloy was quizzed on the €500 glass barometer that a FÁS representative had purchased as a gift for the Irish Minister for Education Mary Hanafin on a visit to their U.S. project. FAS then paid an extra €419 in postage costs to send it back to Ireland. Molloy did not have such detail with him at that time but described such gifts as of a "corporate" kind, usually consisting of items such as Waterford Glass
crystal. He did suspect that the barometer was a "probably sizeable" corporate gift to the Minister from NASA but claimed a lack of knowledge due to not having the relevant information at hand."
and current Minister for Enterprise Mary Coughlan. In the aftermath, the Labour Party
leader Eamon Gilmore
said the rest of the board's situation was "untenable". Molloy said he would not appear before the Oireachtas
Public Accounts Committee on 27 November to investigate the issues that cost him his job, with Assistant Director General, Christy Cooney acting as accounting officer for the meeting instead. He also received €500,000 compensation for resigning. Molloy later claimed he was "afraid of flying". He was replaced by a new six-month interim director-general, Eddie Sullivan, a former secretary general with the Department of Finance
who was previously commissioned by the government to report on the 2006 rape law controversy, medical card fees for doctors and data protection legislation. On 16 January 2009, it was reported that Molloy would receive €111,000 severance payments and full pension benefits despite his resignation.
venue to the larger Croke Park
stadium in Dublin. He described the catering facilities at the RDS as "unacceptable" in standard and price, before suggesting that children might be killed whilst crossing the road to obtain nutritional maintenance elsewhere and insisting that incoming Gaelic Athletic Association
president Christy Cooney
, an assistant director with FAS, was not involved in the move.
, Commander Eileen Collins
, whom the agency invited to Ireland to promote a science project. €7,856 was incurred on the Cork
leg of Collins's visit, whilst €16,000 expenses arose from filming her tour of Dublin schools. Hiring the cameraman and equipment cost €5,900. Added to this €30,000 estimate was a €13,000 bill for the chauffeur
-driven limousine
s hired for the drive around Ireland, availed of not only by the astonaut but also by some senior executives of FÁS.
defended her involvement in the scandal by saying she was in the United States "to present certificates" to students at NASA headquarters.
and Foreign Affairs
, gaining much of his FÁS management skills at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
where he received promotion to the level of assistant secretary. Molloy is originally from Birr
, County Offaly
(the Taoiseach's constituency) but resided in Maynooth
, County Kildare
at the breakout of the scandal. His communication skills led to high praise from the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
during the years of economic boom boom
brought on by the Celtic Tiger
. He once described his "principal interest in life" as GAA
; an avid hurling
fan he was overheard boasting to a Dáil committee that he had tickets to a game at Croke Park
. He is married to Noreen, and has four children.
TD Mary O'Rourke
described Mary Harney
's involvement in the scandal as "a load of hoo-hah". Health Minister Mary Harney has defended her use of expenses while on a FÁS trip to the US. On 28 November Mary Harney defended herself with the claim that she was "not on holiday", had not used public taxes for her own personal grooming, blamed the use of the government jet on the Taoiseach and had followed "advice" in claiming her expenses. When she admitted using her time in the United States to receive a visit from a relative, the Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore asked her to resign.
On the day prior to this, the Irish Times published a letter from FÁS instructor Niamh McCarthy telling of how she was instructed by a representative from FÁS that any student absent from class for a day, with or without a doctor's certificate, is to have 80 cents deducted from their €4 trainee weekly meal allowance.
The report says FÁS's expenditure of €35 million on advertising between 2003 and 2007 was carried out in "an unorthodox fashion from a procurement perspective".
reignited the FÁS controversy when it reported that Mr Molloy had had his pension topped up by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan.
The front page story, written by the paper's Chief Reporter, Daniel McConnell, detailed how Mr Molloy's pension was added to by the tune of an additional four and a half years, bringing the overall value of his pension to over €4m. The matter was made worse as two senior ministers, Brian Lenihan and Mary Coughlan appeared to blame each other for the affair.
The following day at the FF party think-in at Athlone, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan defended the move to top up Mr Molloy's pension saying it was politically imperitive to see a change of DG. The matter rumbled on for weeks with the Tánaiste initially stating she acted on legal advice and said she did so to avoid a lengthy court battle to remove Mr Molloy from his position. Taosieach Brian Cowen later admitted that in fact there had been no threat by Mr Molloy nor had legal advice been sought. The issue was further raised at the Public Accounts Committee where more damaging revelations emerged. There were calls for Ms Coughlan to resign her post, but to date she is still in office.
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
in November/December 2008 in which significant public and political outcry has been roused, and at least one senior figure of a government organisation has resigned. The incident first emerged in June 2008 when Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
(the lower house of the Irish parliament) was told one morning by Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition (Ireland)
The Leader of the Opposition in the Republic of Ireland is the politician who, de facto, leads the Parliamentary Opposition in the lower house of the Irish Parliament, Dáil Éireann. The current incumbent is Micheál Martin TD of the Fianna Fáil party....
Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny is an Irish Fine Gael politician, and has been the Taoiseach since 2011. He has led Fine Gael since 2002. He served as Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 to 1997. He is also a two-term Vice President of the European People's Party.Kenny has been a Teachta Dála for Mayo since...
that gardaí
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
were investigating the alleged misappropriate use of funds by a senior executive within FÁS. The director general of the training and employment agency, Foras Áiseanna Saothair
Foras Áiseanna Saothair
An Foras Áiseanna Saothair , referred to in English as the Training and Employment Authority and commonly known as FÁS , is a state agency in Ireland with responsibility for assisting those seeking employment...
(FÁS; referred to in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as the Training and Employment Authority), Rody Molloy resigned late on 25 November after revelations that himself and fellow FÁS executives spent hundreds of thousands of euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
belonging to the company on lavish holidays to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which included first-class travel and expensive rounds of golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, including €643,000 over a period of four years on transatlantic travel for the purpose of promoting the Science Challenge programme and almost €48,000 in air fares for journeys undertaken by Molloy, sometimes accompanied by his wife. Just prior to this, Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
Brian Cowen
Brian Cowen
Brian Cowen is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 7 May 2008 to 9 March 2011. He was head of a coalition government led by Fianna Fáil which until 23 January 2011 had the support of the Green Party and independent TDs.Cowen was also leader of Fianna Fáil from 7 May...
had publicly defended Molloy before his resignation, amidst increasing public outcry and calls for him to resign by TDs
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
including the Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
spokesperson for enterprise Leo Varadkar
Leo Varadkar
Leo Varadkar is an Irish Fine Gael politician. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency since June 2007. He is currently the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, being appointed on 9 March 2011....
. The turning point proved to be an interview Molloy gave to the RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...
show Today with Pat Kenny
Today with Pat Kenny
Today with Pat Kenny is a current affairs magazine broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1, presented by Pat Kenny. The programme is broadcast weekdays, at 10:00 and ends at 12:00. As of 2008, the average audience for the show was 291,000....
in which he grossly underestimated the tide of public opinion in his defence of his company's expenses. On 24 November, Molloy explained to Pat Kenny
Pat Kenny
Patrick "Pat" Kenny is an Irish broadcaster and former disc jockey and continuity announcer. He is employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is their highest paid presenter. He presents Today with Pat Kenny on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday morning between 10:00 and midday...
:
"We broke no rules or regulations. At the time we were doing it, it was standard practice."Ireland's Public Accounts Committee investigated the affair and issued a report on 19 February 2009.
Shane Ross, Nick Webb and the Sunday Independent
The Sunday IndependentSunday Independent
The Sunday Independent is a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published in Ireland by Independent News and Media plc. The newspaper is edited by Aengus Fanning, and is the biggest selling Irish Sunday newspaper by a large margin ; average circulation of 291,323 between June 2004 and January 2005,...
broke the story on 23 November 2008 after an investigation by its business editor, Senator Shane Ross
Shane Ross
Shane Peter Nathaniel Ross is an independent Irish politician and Business Editor of the Sunday Independent. He was the longest-serving member of Seanad Éireann , until he was elected to Dáil Éireann for the constituency of Dublin South at the 2011 general election.-Early life and career:Born in...
and fellow journalist Nick Webb. Documents were obtained by the duo under the Freedom of Information Act, 1997. Ross later discussed his findings on the current affairs television programme Questions and Answers. Ross and Webb would later win the prestigious Bord Gais journalist of the year award for their scoop, as well as the TV3 story of the year award. "Wasters" a book exposing waste and cronyism in the public sector, by Shane Ross and Nick Webb, was published by Penguin in October 2010.
RTÉ Radio 1 interview
Molloy was questioned on a number of issues relating to the expenses of FÁS in an RTÉ Radio 1 interview with Pat Kenny on 24 November 2008.Asked about the FÁS official who, along with his wife, purchased business class tickets costing €12,021 for a three-week round-the-world trip that took in destinations as exotic as Frankfurt am Main, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Honolulu and San Francisco before a flight back to Dublin via Frankfurt, Molloy confirmed he had signed the expense claim and that the official was at an event in Tokyo on official business associated with the World Skills competition and with the graduate programme FÁS operate in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. He claimed that the official "at his own expense, spent some time on the way back coming back through the US".
Quizzed on the necessity of FÁS's chairman, the trade union boss Peter McLoone, accompanying Molloy on a €7,300 per-person return business class flight to Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
for a week-long stay, Molloy pointed out that the city "also happens to be very close to the NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
facility where the shuttle lands and takes off from". He then alluded to the special relationship he claims his organization have built up with NASA over a number of years, a relationship which led to Irish students being given opportunities to work and develop their research skills within NASA. He summed up his view with the line: "I think anyone who knows Florida knows it's not just about Disney World
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...
."
Asked about the FÁS executives who billed the Irish taxpayer for pay-per-view movies ranging in price from $12.71 to $34.40 that they then watched in their U.S. hotel rooms, Molloy compared the price of pay-per-view movies to "chickenfeed", asking the presenter "What's $10 for a movie?". When Kenny informed Molloy that his employers RTÉ did not cover pay-per-view movies in their expenses, Molloy hinted at an "oversight on our part" but reiterated his belief that NASA was a major U.S. government agency and that to develop "relationships" with them was "not easy".
On FÁS's corporate affairs director Greg Craig's company credit card being used to cover a $410 bill at Solutions beauty and nail salon on West Cocoa Beach, Florida in August 2005 (later infamously linked with the politician Mary Harney
Mary Harney
Mary Harney is a former Irish politician. She served as Tánaiste from 1997–2006, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from 1997–2004, and as Minister for Health and Children from 2004 to 2011...
), Molloy implied that the amount of money, "in terms of the total package, is very, very small". On the FÁS credit card used to pay $942.53 for Molloy to play a three-ball golf match at the Orlando Florida Grand Cypress Resort Golf club in January 2005, Molloy again defended himself by referring to his "developing relationships" policy. He then apologized for committing "a major sin".
Molloy was then questioned about the clocking up of almost €48,000 in business-class airfares, sometimes accompanied by his wife, over a four-year period. On the most recent of these in February 2008, they ran up an airfare bill of €7,500 for a return trip to the U.S. east coast. In May 2007, the duo flew to New York at a cost of €6,655, both travelling business class. In November 2007 the pair made their return to New York and in doing so ran up airfares of €7,281. Also in 2007 they claimed FÁS expenses of €6,455 for a similar trip, travelling business class again. In June 2005, they visited Boston on a cheaper flight, costing €1,634 and prior to this in July 2004, the duo flew to Orlando at a cost of €9,648 for their business class fares. Molloy emphasized that this was not the "hellishly expensive" first class travel
First class travel
First class is the most luxurious class of accommodation on a train, passenger ship, airplane, or other conveyance. It is usually much more expensive than business class and economy class, and offers the best amenities.-Aviation:...
and that on occasions that his wife had travelled, there had been valid and "appropriate" reasons for this being so. These reasons, he suggested, were "to do with the kind of activities that were involved there", including a dinner involving the President of Ireland
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
Mary McAleese
Mary McAleese
Mary Patricia McAleese served as the eighth President of Ireland from 1997 to 2011. She was the second female president and was first elected in 1997 succeeding Mary Robinson, making McAleese the world's first woman to succeed another as president. She was re-elected unopposed for a second term in...
and her husband. He then proposed that on such occasions he had traded down his travel "entitlement" (he alleged an entitlement to travel first class) to allow his wife to buy a ticket on the plane with the leftover money.
Finally Molloy was quizzed on the €500 glass barometer that a FÁS representative had purchased as a gift for the Irish Minister for Education Mary Hanafin on a visit to their U.S. project. FAS then paid an extra €419 in postage costs to send it back to Ireland. Molloy did not have such detail with him at that time but described such gifts as of a "corporate" kind, usually consisting of items such as Waterford Glass
Waterford Crystal
Waterford Crystal is a trademark brand of crystal glassware, previously produced in Waterford, Ireland, though the factory there was shut down after the receivership of Waterford Wedgwood plc in early 2009...
crystal. He did suspect that the barometer was a "probably sizeable" corporate gift to the Minister from NASA but claimed a lack of knowledge due to not having the relevant information at hand."
Rody Molloy's resignation
Rody Molloy's resignation as director general of FÁS was announced on 25 November shortly before 23:00 by TánaisteTánaiste
The Tánaiste is the deputy prime minister of Ireland. The current Tánaiste is Eamon Gilmore, TD who was appointed on 9 March 2011.- Origins and etymology :...
and current Minister for Enterprise Mary Coughlan. In the aftermath, the Labour Party
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...
leader Eamon Gilmore
Eamon Gilmore
Eamon Gilmore is an Irish Labour Party politician and the current Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has been the Leader of the Labour Party since September 2007, and a Teachta Dála for the Dún Laoghaire constituency since 1989, first with the Workers' Party of Ireland, and...
said the rest of the board's situation was "untenable". Molloy said he would not appear before the Oireachtas
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas , sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann...
Public Accounts Committee on 27 November to investigate the issues that cost him his job, with Assistant Director General, Christy Cooney acting as accounting officer for the meeting instead. He also received €500,000 compensation for resigning. Molloy later claimed he was "afraid of flying". He was replaced by a new six-month interim director-general, Eddie Sullivan, a former secretary general with the Department of Finance
Department of Finance (Ireland)
The Department of Finance is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Finance and is assisted by one Minister of State....
who was previously commissioned by the government to report on the 2006 rape law controversy, medical card fees for doctors and data protection legislation. On 16 January 2009, it was reported that Molloy would receive €111,000 severance payments and full pension benefits despite his resignation.
Croke Park controversy
Questions have also been raised about Molloy's decision to move a jobs fair from the smaller RDSRoyal Dublin Society
The Royal Dublin Society was founded on 25 June 1731 to "to promote and develop agriculture, arts, industry, and science in Ireland". The RDS is synonymous with its main premises in Ballsbridge in Dublin, Ireland...
venue to the larger Croke Park
Croke Park
Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...
stadium in Dublin. He described the catering facilities at the RDS as "unacceptable" in standard and price, before suggesting that children might be killed whilst crossing the road to obtain nutritional maintenance elsewhere and insisting that incoming Gaelic Athletic Association
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
president Christy Cooney
Christy Cooney
Christy Cooney is the current President of the Gaelic Athletic Association...
, an assistant director with FAS, was not involved in the move.
Astronaut video visit controversy
Nearly €30,000 was spent by FÁS on a film crew to capture the 2006 visit of U.S. astronautAstronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
, Commander Eileen Collins
Eileen Collins
Eileen Marie Collins is a retired American astronaut and a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel. A former military instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first female pilot and first female commander of a Space Shuttle. She was awarded several medals for her work. Col. Collins has logged 38 days 8...
, whom the agency invited to Ireland to promote a science project. €7,856 was incurred on the Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
leg of Collins's visit, whilst €16,000 expenses arose from filming her tour of Dublin schools. Hiring the cameraman and equipment cost €5,900. Added to this €30,000 estimate was a €13,000 bill for the chauffeur
Chauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.Originally such drivers were always personal servants of the vehicle owner, but now in many cases specialist chauffeur service companies, or individual drivers provide...
-driven limousine
Limousine
A limousine is a luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coachbuilder. These are called "stretch" limousines and are traditionally black or white....
s hired for the drive around Ireland, availed of not only by the astonaut but also by some senior executives of FÁS.
Mary Hanafin
Mary HanafinMary Hanafin
Mary Hanafin is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who was a Teachta Dála for Dún Laoghaire from 1997 to 2011. She served as Government Chief Whip , Minister for Education and Science , Minister for Social and Family Affairs , Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport and Minister for Enterprise,...
defended her involvement in the scandal by saying she was in the United States "to present certificates" to students at NASA headquarters.
Peter McLoone
The head of the FÁS board, Peter McLoone, denied that he had "turned a blind eye" to foreign travel expenses, saying he was "never aware" of any excess expenditure.Rody Molloy
Rody Molloy is a career civil servant who was appointed as director general of FÁS eight years prior to his resignation. Before this, he had served in a number of government departments including Industry and Commerce, Department of the TaoiseachDepartment of the Taoiseach
The Department of the Taoiseach is the government department of the Taoiseach of Ireland. It is based in Government Buildings, the headquarters of the Government of Ireland, on Merrion Street in Dublin....
and Foreign Affairs
Department of Foreign Affairs (Ireland)
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is a department of the Government of Ireland that is responsible for promoting the interests of Ireland in the European Union and the wider world...
, gaining much of his FÁS management skills at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ireland)
The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation who is assisted by two Ministers of State.-Departmental team:...
where he received promotion to the level of assistant secretary. Molloy is originally from Birr
Birr
Birr is a town in County Offaly, Ireland. Once called Parsonstown, after the Parsons family who were local landowners and hereditary Earls of Rosse. It is also a parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe....
, County Offaly
County Offaly
County Offaly is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe and was formerly known as King's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. Offaly County Council is...
(the Taoiseach's constituency) but resided in Maynooth
Maynooth
Maynooth is a town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to a branch of the National University of Ireland, a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College...
, County Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...
at the breakout of the scandal. His communication skills led to high praise from the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....
during the years of economic boom boom
Boom and bust
A credit boom-bust cycle is an episode characterized by a sustained increase in several economics indicators followed by a sharp and rapid contraction. Commonly the boom is driven by a rapid expansion of credit to the private sector accompanied with rising prices of commodities and stock market index...
brought on by the Celtic Tiger
Celtic Tiger
Celtic Tiger is a term used to describe the economy of Ireland during a period of rapid economic growth between 1995 and 2007. The expansion underwent a dramatic reversal from 2008, with GDP contracting by 14% and unemployment levels rising to 14% by 2010...
. He once described his "principal interest in life" as GAA
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
; an avid hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
fan he was overheard boasting to a Dáil committee that he had tickets to a game at Croke Park
Croke Park
Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...
. He is married to Noreen, and has four children.
Mary Harney
In a Radio 1 interview on 27 November, Fianna FáilFianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
TD Mary O'Rourke
Mary O'Rourke
Mary O'Rourke is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. She is a former Teachta Dála for the Longford–Westmeath and Westmeath constituencies. She served as Minister for Education , Minister for Health and Minister for Public Enterprise...
described Mary Harney
Mary Harney
Mary Harney is a former Irish politician. She served as Tánaiste from 1997–2006, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from 1997–2004, and as Minister for Health and Children from 2004 to 2011...
's involvement in the scandal as "a load of hoo-hah". Health Minister Mary Harney has defended her use of expenses while on a FÁS trip to the US. On 28 November Mary Harney defended herself with the claim that she was "not on holiday", had not used public taxes for her own personal grooming, blamed the use of the government jet on the Taoiseach and had followed "advice" in claiming her expenses. When she admitted using her time in the United States to receive a visit from a relative, the Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore asked her to resign.
Outcome
In a statement released on 29 November, the Board of FÁS said they had assured the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment of their determination to release "all matters of concern about past practice" to the public domain. The Public Accounts Committee is set to report on the scandal in 2009. Mary Harney's husband, the former FÁS chairman Brian Geogheghan, is amongst those to be interviewed about his expenditure by the Public Accounts Committee.On the day prior to this, the Irish Times published a letter from FÁS instructor Niamh McCarthy telling of how she was instructed by a representative from FÁS that any student absent from class for a day, with or without a doctor's certificate, is to have 80 cents deducted from their €4 trainee weekly meal allowance.
Reaction
Michael Lillis, a former leading civil servant and diplomat, said Molloy "should not have been driven out" and that he "played an important part for a generation in developing the Irish economy".Report
A Public Accounts Committee report on the affair was released on 19 February 2009. It found that proper procurement protocols were not adhered to and standard foreign travel policy was not abided by FÁS, resulting in a loss to the Exchequer. It found that FÁS should not have paid for flights of former board members, journalists and spouses of executives, whilst costs in respect of ministers and civil servants should have been borne by the department.The report says FÁS's expenditure of €35 million on advertising between 2003 and 2007 was carried out in "an unorthodox fashion from a procurement perspective".
Sunday Independent once again exposes Molloy
In September 2009, the Sunday IndependentSunday Independent
The Sunday Independent is a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published in Ireland by Independent News and Media plc. The newspaper is edited by Aengus Fanning, and is the biggest selling Irish Sunday newspaper by a large margin ; average circulation of 291,323 between June 2004 and January 2005,...
reignited the FÁS controversy when it reported that Mr Molloy had had his pension topped up by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan.
The front page story, written by the paper's Chief Reporter, Daniel McConnell, detailed how Mr Molloy's pension was added to by the tune of an additional four and a half years, bringing the overall value of his pension to over €4m. The matter was made worse as two senior ministers, Brian Lenihan and Mary Coughlan appeared to blame each other for the affair.
The following day at the FF party think-in at Athlone, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan defended the move to top up Mr Molloy's pension saying it was politically imperitive to see a change of DG. The matter rumbled on for weeks with the Tánaiste initially stating she acted on legal advice and said she did so to avoid a lengthy court battle to remove Mr Molloy from his position. Taosieach Brian Cowen later admitted that in fact there had been no threat by Mr Molloy nor had legal advice been sought. The issue was further raised at the Public Accounts Committee where more damaging revelations emerged. There were calls for Ms Coughlan to resign her post, but to date she is still in office.