The number of board members at the State training agency FÁS is to be reduced from 17 to 11, under new legislation to be published later today.
The Labour Services Amendment Bill 2009 will also remove the role of social partner organisations and FÁS employees in appointing directors to the board.
Under the terms of the new legislation, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment will make appointments to the board of FÁS with some input from the Minister for Education & Science and the Minister for Social & Family Affairs.
The new legislation will also seek to protect FÁS employees who report suspected wrongdoing to gardaí or to a member of the new board.
The office of the Tánaiste told RTÉ News that the move is designed to improve corporate governance at the State agency and get it back to its core function of training and upskilling the workforce.
Later today, the Dáil is debating a private members' motion from the Labour Party on political oversight at the training agency, and the retirement package given to the former Director General Rody Molloy.
Tánaiste Mary Coughlan has told the Dáil that former FÁS Director General Roddy Molloy’s severance package was ‘broadly in line’ with what he could have claimed had his contract been terminated by the board of FÁS.
She said agreeing to additional pension years for him was not done lightly and that securing his departure in a non-litigious manner was considered to be in the best interest of FÁS and the taxpayer.
She said dimissal would have been for the board of FÁS and that it could have been time consuming and could have ended up in court action been taken.
She said that she acted at all times with advice from officials in her Department and the Department of Finance.
Mary Coughlan said that legal advice in respect of any public legal action by Roddy Molloy did not arise as concern over legal action was not a deciding factor.
Mary Coughlan also told the Dáil that all credit cards in FÁS, except one, used to purchase periodicals, have been cancelled.
She said that new internal audit structures have been introduced and the FÁS advertising budget has been reduced to a minimum.
These are among the measures implemented in FÁS to improve financial control in the organisation.
