Tanaiste attacked over FAS row role
TANAISTE Mary Coughlan has been attacked again for her intervention in the row over training agency FAS.
She told the Dail this week that she had asked the Comptroller and Auditor General to carry out an investigation, because the Dail's Public Accounts committee was finding it difficult to complete its probe "due to other work".
But yesterday, two members of the committee spoke out to contradict Ms Coughlan's claim. Labour TD Roisin Shortall said that the committee was not being delayed due to the pressure of work.
"We are actually pursuing FAS in detail over a number of documents that were requested. We intend to see it through to the end."
Committee chairman, Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen, said the last hearing was suspended due to the State agency's failure to provide documents on time.
The committee is due to hold its second full hearing next week into FAS, which was found to have failed to secure value for money for its €9m advertising budget.
- Michael Brennan Political Correspondent
