One thing we can be sure of is that the stamp of Fianna Fáil's failure in Government over the past ten years has been an obscene waste of public money. Yesterday's ESRI report confirms in its own words that the Government has blown the boom. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, responded to this by saying we must take prudent, transparent and immediate action, as distinct from what the Taoiseach said. Many will ask where all this money has gone and what has accounted for this wastage. In many cases, it is made up of relatively small amounts over a broad range. One of the areas that accounts for this wastage is the plethora of agencies and unaccountable bodies established by the Government, for example, FÁS. When unemployment was falling, the FÁS budget increased and is now €1 billion. The recent special report of the Comptroller and Auditor General highlighted serious concerns and questions about how FÁS spends its €9 million on advertising and PR.

Following up on that report, Deputy Varadkar of Fine Gael sought, under the Freedom of Information Act, the details of some of those concerns. It shows that a senior executive in FÁS responsible for its €9 million PR and advertising budget placed most of the campaign advertisements himself, despite the fact that FÁS employs an advertising agency which secures a remit from every advertisement placed. It is like keeping a dog and barking oneself. The documents Deputy Varadkar received in recent days show one instance where €100,000 of taxpayers' money was spent on advertising in one local newspaper, which is completely contrary to the normal policy of FÁS in dealing with national advertising. When asked about this unusual arrangement, there was a straightforward conflict of evidence between the official involved and his director general. Their evidence was directly contradictory. The official said the director general told him to place this advertisement. This is an example of sloppy management of the public's money. In the context of the Minister for Finance saying we must take prudent action, is this the kind of area in which the Taoiseach will see to it that a stop is put to the mismanagement of the spending of taxpayers' money, given the challenges we face?

Hear, hear.

Obviously I do not know the specifics set out by Deputy Kenny. If FÁS has a budget of €900 million and its advertising budget is 1% of that, €9 million, obviously one wants to get value for money from it. FÁS is involved in the important work of reskilling and bringing opportunities to the public's attention, particularly to those who are not in the workforce and who are socially excluded and require assistance in reskilling and finding job opportunities. FÁS has played a very good role in that effort and has been addressing itself to the new agenda that arises. Now that we have seen unemployment rise again, relatively speaking, in recent times, Deputy Kenny can be assured that FÁS and its skills will be required on a continuous basis.

I cannot comment on the specific issue that is being raised except to say that the concentration of Government activity has to be on the current side to get value for money and to bring to public attention, however one can and as economically as possible, the job FÁS does to ensure those who can avail of those services do so.

I accept the Taoiseach could not possibly know the individual incidences of every agency or quango around the country. My point is that following Deputy Varadkar's investigation the freedom of information material given to him clearly shows that the opinion of the FÁS executive, who is responsible for a €9 million advertising and PR budget, is that having control of that spend could influence how FÁS is portrayed in the newspapers. If one turns that around, it is using public money to buy influence in newspapers. That is not what the FÁS training agency should be about and it does down the very good work and good people who work in FÁS throughout the country.

Hear, hear.

This is not how public money should be spent. The Comptroller and Auditor General's report, accessed under freedom of information legislation, clearly indicates directly contradictory evidence. These papers are being made available to the Committee of Public Accounts and I will send them on to the Taoiseach.

I ask the Taoiseach to act on this information and consult, through the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Garda, which is investigating this matter, to see that in this instance nothing is happening in FÁS that should not happen and that the public can expect to get value for its taxes in this area. A budget of €9 million for advertising and PR might be small money to Fianna Fáil, but it is an important budget. It is in the control of one executive who placed most of the advertisements himself. There is a Garda investigation going on. I would like to think that, beginning with the Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan's, prudent and direct action, this kind of area, for one, would be dealt with by the Taoiseach. From that chair, he recently said sotto voce to call them in. Somebody might see to it that this activity is strictly in line with the criteria for getting best value for taxpayers’ money. I would like the Taoiseach to comment.

What about the voting machines?

First, if there is a Garda inquiry, there should not be any political involvement whatever on the matter.

There is political responsibility.

Second, the chief executive of that organisation is a person whom I personally hold in the highest regard and whose integrity I would defend at all times, Mr. Rody Molloy. The Tánaiste, as the line Minister, can make inquiries into the matter to get the details of what is being referred to this morning, of which I have no notice.

The internal report is here.

If there is any issue of Garda involvement, it should be left with the gardaí.

That is another washing of the hands.