Tánaiste undermined her own strategy as outlined to board

ANALYSIS:Fás directors think an unintended one-word answer from Mary Coughlan brought down the agency's board

THE STRATEGY outlined to the board of Fás by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan, earlier this year, appears to have been undermined by the Tánaiste herself during a “doorstep” interview with reporters.

Coughlan was speaking to reporters on Thursday last week, after the publication of another report by the Comptroller Auditor General John Buckley, outlining expenditure control failures at the State training agency.

Asked whether she believed the board should resign, she said it was not up to her to dictate what they did. But when asked, by Ingrid Miley of RTÉ, whether she would accept the board’s resignation if it was offered, she replied: “Yes.”

Her comment was reported on radio and television and in the following day’s newspapers. Her position came as a surprise, and a shock, to the Fás board.

Earlier this year, in the wake of a report from the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC), it had been agreed that the board would remain in place until new legislation governing the structure of the organisation was passed by the Oireachtas. The legislation has yet to be finalised.

Fás directors and others believe Coughlan’s response to Miley’s question was unintended. A spokesman for Coughlan said this is incorrect.

The chairman of the board, trade unionist Peter McLoone, got on to the department, and at midday on Friday he was given a proposed public statement from Coughlan. It appears he had discussed the matter with the secretary general of the department, Seán Gorman.

The intended statement read:

“The Tánaiste today said that she wanted to clarify some issues relating to the board of Fás which have been the subject of public comment. She said that her department is currently working on redrafting the Labour Services Act 1987 to implement some of the recommendations of the recent Public Accounts Committee report. She said that this includes changes to the structure and composition of the Fás board. She said that her intention is that the Bill will be published next month. The Tánaiste said that in the meantime she wanted the current board to continue to do its work in addressing the key challenge of supporting the unemployed into employment through its employment and training services.

“I am satisfied that the board is responding appropriately to the various recommendations of the CAG and the PAC. It is important that the board continues to focus on the task of responding to the needs of those who are unemployed in particular. In the context of the enactment of the new legislation, it is vital in the interests of the Fás clients that the changeover to the new structures is completed in an orderly fashion.”

McLoone circulated this clarification of the Tánaiste’s position to the other members of the board. However, events were moving at a pace. That same Friday morning, Green Party leader John Gormley said on radio he believed the Fás board should resign. A few hours later, in Cork, Taoiseach Brian Cowen, when asked about the matter, said: “As I have said, we need to have an orderly transition to a new board. It can only take place once the new legislation is enacted.”

Meanwhile, just before 2pm, McLoone had been back on to the department, wondering whether the press statement from Coughlan had yet been published. Two hours later he got a response from the department, telling him the press statement had not been released, and that he would be contacted if anything was issued.

By Saturday he had decided that, whatever about the “clarification” that had been sent to him on Friday, the position of the board had been seriously undermined. He conveyed his assessment of the situation to a number of directors, and agreed to appear on RTÉ radio’s This Week programme, where he said the board of directors would be meeting shortly. “I’m satisfied that . . . the board will decide that it should step down and co-operate fully with an orderly transition to a new board,” he said.