Comptroller and Auditor General John Buckley has published a report on the running of State training agency FÁS.
A controversy over expenses and lax financial controls led last year to the departure of its former chief executive Rody Molloy and former chairman Peter McLoone and the appointment of a new board earlier this year.
The C&AG's report today finds that FÁS's failure to implement some of its own procedures exposed the organisation to the risk of losses, and the risk of failing to achieve value for money. The report also finds that around €1m of the €3m worth of flights between 2002 and 2008 were booked outside FÁS's internal procedures.
Read the full report here
It calls for a 'comprehensive review' of its system of controls and clearer guidelines on foreign travel, and business expenses. The report says any costs linked to travel by Ministers of civil servants should be borne by the relevant Government department.
The report also found that travel by former director general Rody Molloy and most of the travel booked by FÁS's corporate affairs division did not follow the agency's internal procedures.
'Travel requisition forms were not completed, the flights were not booked through the nominated travel officer in FÁS and the travel was booked with agents other than the approved agent'.
The report also found that FAS paid around €32,000 for travel by spouses of senior management in the period under review - 2002 to 2008.
The C&AG said that - apart from €200 for one flight - there was no evidence to show that any of these other costs were recovered, or that FAS sought reimbursement.
Mr Buckley's examination found that FÁS's governance structure was consistent with its governing legislation and with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies.
The C&AG also said that FÁS had a plan of internal control, which, if fully implemented, would have provided enough assurance that its business was being done in a 'safe and regular manner'.
But the report also found that there was failure to fully implement elements of this plan. There were deficiencies in the conduct of tender processes for goods and services, while payments were made in the absence of supporting documentation. The C&AG also found that a risk management system adopted by the board in 2005 did not function effectively.
'There were breaches of internal procurement and payment procedures and key units failed to detect or react appropriately to this non-compliance', it said.
The examination is a follow up to two special reports issued in April 2008 and June 2009, which were later considered by the Committee of Public Accounts.
The C&AG looked at a training programme called the Competency Development Programme. It found that monitoring visits to external providers of training were not as frequent as envisaged under FÁS's own procedures. The report added that the results of the training programmes were not recorded and there was no evaluation of the extent to which the training objectives of the programme were achieved.
The report identifies a number of areas where improvements could be made to the systems, practices and procedures employed by FÁS.
