Rumours abound. Serious stuff.
I heard one over the summer about FÁS. It was around the time that Enda Kenny told the Dail that gardaí were investigating the alleged misappropriate use of funds by a senior executive within FÁS.
The rumour was unverified obviously, so it is was basically gossip – and therefore has all of the qualifications that should be attached to any gossip.
The scenario laid out to me was that certain Sunday newspapers were involved in accepting advertising from FÁS. So what you might say. I was told that staff within those newspapers would agree a price with an individual, or individuals, within FÁS. The price might only be known to a small group of people and, critically, the price would be inflated.
A percentage of this overall advertising spend would then be shared, personally, between respective staff in certain Sunday newspapers and staff in FÁS. I guess it would be called kickbacks. Or fraud. That is certain parties within FAS may have been engaged in fraud.
We have already heard of certain allegations around advertising spending – even that an advertising company was set up by staff in FÁS.
Another rumour I heard, widely circulated, was that Mary Hanafin went on trips to Florida.
Senator Shane Ross will have further revelations for us on Sunday, no doubt.