There is consternation in Limerick City and not about knife crime. When Dell pulled out of Limerick and zipped up its pants, the EU called shenanigans and set up a fund to help out the now ex-Dell workers. €22 million of EU money for the taking? Sure why not? And who better to spend it all than Fás? They have a track record for burning through money (if not always for the good of the people they’re meant to be training).
Fails. At. Spending.
But somehow good old Fás has achieved the miraculous: they aren’t spending money. Maybe it’s because they aren’t used to having surplus that they can’t throw it at junkets and management perks. Maybe the organisation is loaded with bureaucrats who don’t realise there’s such a thing as a time limit on spending this fund. Even more amazingly, the deadline is June 2011. Yes, Fás can’t spend millions in the next ten months.
The end result is that thanks to endless red tape or sheer incompetence, millions of the fund is likely to remain unspent and will be handed back to the EU. It’s mindboggling that this is even possible and that heads have not rolled. In a recession, any advantage that Ireland is offered should be grabbed not squandered.
What Fás Are Doing
If (when) the rest of the money is looking to remain unspent towards the deadline, it should just be divided up amongst whoever is left to get any. Call it “a blank cheque for training funds”. If the recipients want to spend it on booze, grand, at least some VAT will come back into the country. And by the next time a gift horse comes along, don’t let Fás anywhere near it.
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