FÁs

[Sunny]

[broken link removed]

According to this report, the directors of FAS now say that there there misinformation and in some cases, the board was misled with regard to spending within FAS.
Now, as someone who makes monthly reports and presentations to a board of directors I can honestly say that I would be sacked without question if it was revealed that I misled them. I certainly wouldn't be still in the job or given a golden handshake to make me go quitely. And yet as far as I am aware, there has been one resignation.

I have to say that this guy Saul makes me laugh. He is a perfect example of what is wrong with this country. It's never 'my' fault. It's always someone elses. These guys were paid handsome director fees to do a job. Things happened on their watch that shouldn't of happened. Nobody is saying they benefited or didn't do the job to the best of their abilities but the fact remains that the buck stops at the top. They have to accept responsibility and go. They are like the bank boards, regulator, senior civil servants, ministers. None of them are willing to accept any responsibility for what happens under them.

Another example is John O'Donaghue and his 'I didn't arrange it' defence for his spending. So he didn't stop for one moment in the back of the Limo taking him between terminals or in the hotel suite at the Cannes film festival that this money might be better spent by giving a bigger grant to one of underfunded sports stars. I suppose it's a lot easier to turn around Dervla O 'Rourke and tell her that grant is being cut than maybe look at your own spending. But then again, he was only the minister. He didn't know.

Rant over

 

[Staples]

Re: Fas

I have to say that this guy Saul makes me laugh. He is a perfect example of what is wrong with this country. It's never 'my' fault. It's always someone elses. These guys were paid handsome director fees to do a job.

I think the point Saul was making is that just replacing the Board wouldn't address the underlying problems. Any culture in which it's apparently acceptable to misinform the Board has a serious problem and changing the culture is primarily the function of the new Director General.

In fairness to the Board, their functions, insofar as they relate to FAS, are part time and their remuneration is fairly low by comparision with the full time executive of FAS. The Board members from the Government departments don't even get any pay for their services.

 

[Pique318]

Re: Fas

I think the point Saul was making is that just replacing the Board wouldn't address the underlying problems. Any culture in which it's apparently acceptable to misinform the Board has a serious problem and changing the culture is primarily the function of the new Director General.

Well if you think you're gonna either keep your job or be given a big payoff, then where's the incentive to address the 'underlying problems'? If everyone in the organisation knew full well that incompetence like that would result in a major boot up the jacksie and a P45, then maybe they'd think twice about what they were responsible for.

 

[Markjbloggs]

Re: Fas

I think the point Saul was making is that just replacing the Board wouldn't address the underlying problems. Any culture in which it's apparently acceptable to misinform the Board has a serious problem and changing the culture is primarily the function of the new Director General.

In fairness to the Board, their functions, insofar as they relate to FAS, are part time and their remuneration is fairly low by comparision with the full time executive of FAS. The Board members from the Government departments don't even get any pay for their services.

Regardless of their level of compensation, surely the board members have a duty to at least try to ensure that they are not being lied to. Procedures and cross-checks should be in place to root out misinformation. If these are not in place or are inadequate, then the Board is incompetent and must be replaced.

 

[Sunny]

Re: Fas

I think the point Saul was making is that just replacing the Board wouldn't address the underlying problems. Any culture in which it's apparently acceptable to misinform the Board has a serious problem and changing the culture is primarily the function of the new Director General.

In fairness to the Board, their functions, insofar as they relate to FAS, are part time and their remuneration is fairly low by comparision with the full time executive of FAS. The Board members from the Government departments don't even get any pay for their services.

€14,000 a year for a part time job is not fairly low in my opinion. The board of directors were part of the culture in FAS. It was a cosy job for members of the social partners. Accepting a position as Director of a company comes with responsibilities. Niall Saul himself, as head of internal audit committee knew there were problems as far back as 2007. And yet it took the Sunday Independent to get to the bottom of how bad things were. The board were happy to keep turning up at meetings, get their fees and gifts, maybe a nice cup of tea and a fairycake.

 

[bamboozle]

Re: Fas

€14,000 a year for a part time job is not fairly low in my opinion. The board of directors were part of the culture in FAS. It was a cosy job for members of the social partners. Accepting a position as Director of a company comes with responsibilities. Niall Saul himself, as head of internal audit committee knew there were problems as far back as 2007. And yet it took the Sunday Independent to get to the bottom of how bad things were. The board were happy to keep turning up at meetings, get their fees and gifts, maybe a nice cup of tea and a fairycake.

a lot of credit is due to Shane Ross for his articles over the last number of years concerning not only FAS but also Auctioneers & the banks. i vaguely remember an article of his some years back on corporate governance and he mentioned listed Irish Companies where the Chairman and CEO were either the same person or where the CEO moved sideways into the role of Chairman - Sean Fitzpatrick at Anglo being one of the examples used

 

[Shawady]

Re: Fas

Molloy has resigned from another state body.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0925/fas.html

 

[Complainer]

Re: Fas

a lot of credit is due to Shane Ross for his articles over the last number of years concerning not only FAS but also Auctioneers & the banks. i vaguely remember an article of his some years back on corporate governance and he mentioned listed Irish Companies where the Chairman and CEO were either the same person or where the CEO moved sideways into the role of Chairman - Sean Fitzpatrick at Anglo being one of the examples used

Indeed, Rossy does deserve credit for his work at FAS. But let's not forget his trojan defence of Fingers over at Irish Nationwide for years. Rossy was the one journo that gave positive coverage to Fingers, and now NAMA is paying an €8bn price for the end result.

The FAS board members should have resigned, though I really doubt that there is much they could have done to prevent lies. Maybe those who feel that they should have had more 'checks and balances' could outline what kind of checks and balances would have prevented the current situation?

 

[Purple]

Re: Fas

The FAS board members should have resigned, though I really doubt that there is much they could have done to prevent lies. Maybe those who feel that they should have had more 'checks and balances' could outline what kind of checks and balances would have prevented the current situation?

I agree about Ross but why should anyone have to give details of the checks and balances that should have been put in place? That's the job of the Board. The bottom line is that they were paid for an oversight role and they utterly failed in their duty.