Former FÁS Director-General Rody Molloy has told the Dáil Public Accounts Committee that he 'made some mistakes' while travelling on business.
The committee is examining the annual report and financial statements at the State training agency.
Watch today's committee hearing in full.
Mr Molloy resigned last month followed controversy and allegations of excessive expenses incurred by executives of FÁS.
Labour's Roisin Shortall asked Mr Molloy 'how did he do his job?' given the amount of travelling he did. She said Mr Molloy had been on 16 major trips in 3 years.
Mr Molloy defended the amount of travel, saying his role as DG also entailed promoting the organisation.
He said he had understood that the class of travel he availed of was in order at the time but now accepted that it was not.
The former FÁS DG also described the interview he gave to Pat Kenny on RTÉ Radio last week as 'ill-advised'.
PAC chairman Bernard Allen said he received a solicitor's letter from the suspended head of corporate affairs Greg Craig saying that he was precluded from speaking about the matters involved in his suspension.
During the PAC hearing, FÁS assistant director general Christy Cooney rejected a suggestion that FÁS was gagging Mr Craig, saying he was only precluded from speaking in relation to recent matters which led to his suspension - not earlier investigations.
Mr Molloy denied that he had any suspicions about Mr Craig at the time that he stopped dealing directly with him.
He told the Committee that when he took up his job, it was the practice for the then manager of corporate affairs to report directly to the director general.
Mr Molloy said he did not have the time for that, so he had put that manager under an assistant director general, Gerry Pike.
Asked why his notes at the time showed he had stressed to Mr Pike that Mr Craig was to be told to observe public service norms, Mr Molloy said Mr Craig had demonstrated an ability to get things done, but he said he had no suspicions about him.
Mr Molloy said that on occasion, Mr Craig had been complimented for having got things done.
But he said that was on the presumption that he had done things through proper procedures. Mr Molloy said he had never condoned the breaching of procedures.
'Squander-mania' claim
Fine Gael's Jim O'Keeffe earlier accused FÁS of 'squander-mania' in its spending.
Mr O'Keeffe also questioned the €1.5m purchase of land in Birr for decentralisation of the agency, which never happened.
Rody Molloy said it was bought on the direction of the Government, which was pushing decentralisation.
FÁS Board Chariman Peter McLoone told the committee this morning that he accepted there had been unacceptable waste of FÁS resources in the past.
The bulk of the waste had been confined to the corporate affairs section and this had emerged through their internal audit work, he added.
Mr McLoone acknowledged the anger and hurt that had been caused to those who paid for FÁS and those who used the agency's services. But he said that waste was not typical of the overwhelming majority of those who work in FÁS.
Future of FÁS board
FG's Padraic McCormack called into question the future of the FÁS board, saying that the Board has been negligent and asking Peter McLoone if members should consider their positions.
Mr McLoone said the Board is now engaged with problems that are present and that it doesn't seem that process would be helped if the members did step down. He also said the Board had to get on with picking a successor to Rody Molloy.
Labour's Tommy Broughan pointed out that journalists had also been on some FÁS foreign travel and asked what the point of them being there was.
Rody Molloy said the journalists were there to generate interest and create an awareness of what FÁS was doing.
Deputy Broughan pointed out that the state agency spent money on advertising to highlight what it does, and asked if bringing reporters on trips was necessary.
Mr Molloy said the issue was being reviewed by the board.
