Has the Taoiseach made inquiries as to whether this type of carry-on is going on anywhere else in State agencies or across the public sector? Are board members and top executives of State bodies behaving like latter day Borgias at the taxpayers' expense anywhere else? In fairness to State agencies, those who work in them and the people who head them, some kind of inquiry should be ordered by the Taoiseach to find out if this type of carry-on is happening anywhere else.

It is all very well for the Taoiseach to say he is waiting for the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. The Taoiseach read what went on in FÁS, he heard the reports yesterday and he heard the explanation given by the chief executive of FÁS for the air fares and other expenses clocked up. Does the Taoiseach think it was excessive? Leaving aside whether rules were broken or regulations were transgressed, does he think junketing at the level conducted by FÁS is excessive? This involved expenses that, everyone in the House agrees, were incurred for items that should have been removed from the bill before making an expense claim. One certainly does not charge up some of these items to the taxpayer. Does the Taoiseach think it was excessive?

I do not believe certain items of expenditure should have been incurred. In regard to that specific issue, it is clear. We must ensure that the accountability of the organisation is such that we find the full remit of what was going on. That process is in place. That is not for the purpose of deferring the issue, it is to ensure we find the full outcome based on what was going on. I understand the Comptroller and Auditor General has been asked to examine this back to 2000, a considerable period of time.

It should go back to 1990.

That issue is in hand. I am not aware of another agency that has this issue before it but clearly Ministers should contact agencies under their remit and have the chief executives confirm that their arrangements are in compliance with whatever regulations are in place.