Fas under fire over funding
Sunday September 05 2010
The board of Fas is to meet tomorrow to discuss the latest revelations of "suspected malpractice" in the running of some of its training courses.
The board will meet for two days to discuss a number of issues, including irregularities found in some courses, after a nationwide review of training, run on behalf of the agency by external companies.
An internal Fas investigation uncovered evidence of "suspected malpractice" in the running of a number of its training courses. There was also the suggestion that results had been manipulated.
In a separate development, funding of Fas training courses by the European Commission has been suspended over issues relating to auditing procedures. More than €200m of funding is at stake.
A major political rift has also erupted between the leader of Ireland's trade union movement and a key member of the party it traditionally supports, the Labour Party, over the future of the scandal-hit state training agency.
Labour's Ruairi Quinn wants Fas closed down after a series of irregularities, but ICTU president Jack O'Connor rebuked him, saying that he was "completely wrong".
- DON LAVERY
Originally published in
