Tánaiste Mary Coughlan has shown a staggering lack of understanding as to how her Government allowed FÁS to waste €8.4 million on the FÁS Science Challenge, according to Fine Gael Innovation Spokeswoman Deirdre Clune TD.

Speaking after she questioned the Tánaiste during Enterprise, Trade & Employment questions in the Dáil, Deputy Clune said the FÁS Science Challenge Programme wasted €8.4 million of Irish taxpayers’ money on what seemed to be nothing more than a vehicle for travel for FÁS Board members and Government Ministers and Junior Ministers.

I asked the Tánaiste why the Government decided in 2003 to task two State bodies with promoting science and engineering. Both the FÁS Science Challenge and Science Foundation Ireland has separate budgets for the same job.

However, Minister Coughlan was unable to explain how her Government allowed this duplication and waste. She also failed to offer any assurance that this would not occur again in the future.

At a meeting of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee last June 11th, Dr Graham Love of Science Foundation Ireland explained that he was part of the review group that had examined the FÁS Science Challenge. The group found there was ‘a lack of data concerning what the programme was intended to do and the deliverables it was intended to deliver’, and they were unable to recommend its continuation.

Until Government Ministers accept responsibility for their mistakes and take steps to ensure they do not occur again, the Government is doomed to repeat the same mistakes in the future and waste millions of Irish taxpayer’s euros in the process.

^^ Departmental Programmes. ^^

34. Deputy Deirdre Clune asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she is satisfied her financial and policy-related oversight of FÁS in the past ten years was sufficient in view of recent examples of practices and programmes that did not show value for taxpayers’ money; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27944/09]

Deputy Mary Coughlan: My Department and I closely monitor the operation of FÁS and the implementation of its labour market programmes. The medium-term policy direction of FÁS is set out in its multi-annual statement of strategy, which is developed in close co-operation with officials in my Department. Overall responsibility for the management of FÁS lies with its board. Its internal governance structures include an executive board comprising the director general and seven assistant directors general. The executive board reports to the senior board.
Senior officials from my Department meet senior executives in FÁS on a regular basis to maintain the alignment of Government policy with programme delivery. In addition, a senior official from my Department is a member of the board of FÁS. The budget for FÁS is agreed on the basis of detailed discussions between FÁS, my Department and the Department of Finance in the context of the annual Estimates process. The allocation of funding to FÁS is aligned to Government policy in the context of the provision of active labour market supports to meet the changing needs of the labour market.
The annual financial accounts of FÁS are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General. These accounts include a number of statements relating to financial compliance, which form part of the FÁS annual report and, in accordance with the provisions of the Labour Services Act 1987, are presented to me by FÁS and laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
When issues of concern relating to expenditure in FÁS were brought to my attention following my appointment as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment last year, I acted quickly to seek assurances from FÁS that the issues highlighted by the Comptroller and Auditor General’s value for money report had been addressed. I then proceeded to request the Comptroller and Auditor General to carry out an examination of the activities of the FÁS corporate affairs division since 2000 and to report on the effectiveness of management and control systems across the FÁS organisation. I have recently received a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General that deals with the examination of advertising and promotion in FÁS and it forms part of this investigation. This report will be laid before the House in due course.
In addition, my Department is currently carrying of a review into the active labour market programmes funded by my Department, including those delivered by FÁS. The review focuses on the efficiency and effectiveness of these programmes in the context of current labour market policy changes and challenges. The review will draw conclusions on the balance of resources and the rationale for the allocation of public funding in the context of current and future labour market policy challenges, including the implementation of the national skills strategy. It is expected that these conclusions will inform policy decisions on the allocation of funding in the context of the Estimates campaigns of 2010 and future years.

Deputy Deirdre Clune: The FÁS Science Challenge programme was established in 2003 and was described as being part of the Government’s effort to promote science, engineering and ICT. Another programme, Discover Science and Engineering, was also established in 2003 with the objective of promoting awareness of science and engineering. Science Foundation Ireland was established formally in 2003 and has a similar remit. It was recently brought to our attention that the FÁS Science Challenge programme was investigated on the initiative of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and abandoned. An official of Science Foundation Ireland stated the programme was characterised by a lack of data on objectives and what was intended to be delivered.
The Department, in terms of its role of overseeing investment in science and technology, was throwing money like confetti at a wedding at various different programmes, with no targets—–

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: The question is on FÁS.

Deputy Deirdre Clune: I am talking about FÁS.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: I believed the Deputy was talking about Science Foundation Ireland.

Deputy Deirdre Clune: I am talking about that also; it has similar projects. Science Foundation Ireland was involved in a review of FÁS’s Science Challenge programme.
Bearing in mind all the various programmes that were supposed to encourage people to become involved in science, technology, engineering and ICT, what was occurring in the Department? The programmes were all going in different directions and vast quantities of taxpayers’ money were spent on all of them.

Deputy Mary Coughlan: We had better differentiate between the FÁS programme and that of Science Foundation Ireland. The latter has been absolutely superb, not without the Minister of State and me keeping a cute eye on expenditure and determining where commercialisation opportunities arise. Our focus is certainly on enterprise.
The Science Challenge programme was established to encourage education and research and, eventually, high-level careers in science, engineering and technology. This is what we wanted but, unfortunately, on the basis of expenditure, value for money analysis and outputs, I felt the programme needed to be reappraised. On receiving the result of the reappraisal on my behalf by the Department, FÁS, Forfás and Science Foundation Ireland and senior officials from the Higher Education Authority, I decided immediately that although the programme was beneficial in one way, it certainly did not work within the remit of FÁS and was not good value for money. It is on this basis that I decided not to continue with the programme. I have instructed my officials to secure the orderly wind-down of the programme.
There are a number of initiatives, contacts and opportunities within the programme that can be availed of by people such as Professor Frank Gannon of Science Foundation Ireland with a view to considering other types of opportunities. In the context of the challenges that arise at present, FÁS would be best to focus on the unemployed. We must continue to train those who are employed to increase productivity. I decided on the basis of the views brought to my attention that we would not proceed with the programme.

Deputy Deirdre Clune: The Discover Science and Engineering programme and the FÁS Science Challenge programme seemed to be operating at the same time. Was the latter operating under Government approval? Will the Minister be publishing the report thereon?

Deputy Mary Coughlan: I asked for the evaluation within my own Department. I would have to consider whether I should publish it. The most important point is that I made a decision on it as soon as I received it, and we are progressing accordingly. As everyone knows, on the basis of matters that were brought to my attention, investigations have been carried out. The Comptroller and Auditor General carried out an investigation on my behalf in consultation with the Committee of Public Accounts and a further investigation will be carried out. It is my clear intention to consider new measures that can be delivered by FÁS and its board in addition to new corporate governance measures. The latter have been introduced at my behest and they will need to be appraised once I receive the final report from the Comptroller and Auditor General.