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28-662: An Foras Áiseanna Saothair ( Irish pronunciation: [ənˠ ˈfˠɔɾˠəsˠ ˈaːʃən̪ˠə ˈsˠiːhəɾʲ] ), referred to in English as the Training and Employment Authority and commonly known as FÁS ( IPA: [fˠaːsˠ] ), was a state agency in Ireland with responsibility for assisting those seeking employment . It was established in January 1988 under the Labour Services Act, 1987 and

56-405: A VEC had become involved in primary school education. VECs were originally established in each administrative county and county borough in the then Irish Free State . In addition, a VEC was formed in those municipal boroughs and urban districts which had a separate Technical Instruction Committee under the 1899 legislation (namely Bray , Drogheda , Sligo , Tralee and Wexford ) and in

84-431: A scheme to remove people from unemployment statistics – it had also been criticised for the expense of running it at almost €1 billion per annum. The authority ran training courses in various fields, through regional centres, although some of this work was transferred to institutes of technology – including the apprenticeships in various fields that it regulated. Apprenticeships regulated by FÁS include: Traditionally,

112-693: A specific task, and typically free to carry out their responsibilities free of government or ministerial interference. State agencies are, for the most part, established through legislation by the Dáil and overseen by the relevant committee of the Oireachtas. Examples of such state agencies include the Arts Council , Bord Iascaigh Mhara , Health Information and Quality Authority , Higher Education Authority and Transport Infrastructure Ireland In 2016 there were 12,616 employed in various Non-commercial state agencies, with

140-467: A waste of money, taking potential employees off the live register who could otherwise be employed in mainstream positions. The fact that Geoghegan was married to then-Minister Mary Harney, who was formerly the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, led to some claims he had a conflict of interest. In September 2008, the then- Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan announced that

168-471: Is as follows: Public spending in 2016 on education totalled just over €8.3 billion. The health sector in Ireland makes up the largest part of the Irish public service, with a total staff of 105,885. Health makes up 35% of the total number of workers in the national public service. The Health Service Executive is the largest component of Ireland's health sector, with 67,145 employed as part of it. Spending in

196-591: Is the collective term for the permanent staff of the departments of state and certain state agencies who advise and work for the Government of Ireland. It consists of two broad components, the Civil Service of the Government and the Civil Service of the State . Whilst these two components are largely theoretical, they do have some fundamental operational differences. The Civil Service of the Government advises and carries out

224-730: The Sunday Independent that brought the FÁS expenses scandal to a head. The documents obtained by Senator Ross showed that some €643,000 had been spent over the course of four years on transatlantic travel promoting the agency's Science Challenge Programme. The expenses included items such as first class air fares, business class air fares and fares paid for by FÁS for spouses, rounds of golf as well as nail and beauty treatment. It also revealed that three Government ministers and two junior ministers had attended in that time for inconsequential reasons. This revelation caused major controversy and pressure

252-730: The Dublin Institute of Technology and the Regional Technical Colleges . They existed from 1930 to 2013, when they were replaced by Education and Training Boards . VECs were originally created by the Vocational Education Act 1930, as successors to the Technical Instruction Committees established by the Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act 1899. The original purpose of the committees

280-568: The Civil Service of the State. The largest reform of the civil service occurred in 1984 when the abolition of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs led to the halving of civil service numbers. The affected personnel, mainly postal and telecommunications workers, were transferred to An Post and Telecom Éireann , respectively. As of December 2022 , there were 47,658 people employed in the national civil service. The defence sector refers to

308-548: The Comptroller and Auditor General would undertake an investigation of FÁS expenditure in light of what she saw as the evident public disquiet on the issue. The annual budget for FÁS at the time was around €1 billion. In November 2008, The Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also began an investigation. However, it was information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by journalist and Senator Shane Ross which he published in

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336-538: The Director General of FÁS was a board member of Forfás . Brian Geoghegan (spouse of Mary Harney , former Minister for Health and Children ) retired as Chairman of FÁS at the end of 2005 and was replaced by Peter McLoone. There had been some controversy regarding Geoghegan's position when it emerged he was also a board member of IBEC, the employer's union of Ireland. IBEC were critical of FÁS at times claiming, at various intervals, that some FÁS courses and schemes were

364-515: The Government is a dual-hatted position as they also head up the Department of the Taoiseach , a government department analogous to a cabinet office in other countries. The Civil Service of the State is a relatively small component of the overall civil service, and its members are expected to be absolutely independent of the government, in addition to normal political independence. The Civil Service of

392-576: The Irish Times announced that legislation to restructure the organisation was expected in the following four weeks. The report into the breakdown of internal controls in FÁS by the Comptroller and Auditor General was published in 2010. In July 2011 the Minister for Education and Skills announced that FÁS would be replaced by a new agency, named SOLAS, that would have responsibility for all public funding of further education and training. The training function of FÁS

420-478: The Irish public service, with funding for local government provided mainly by central government, as well the local property tax . There are approximately 27,188 employed for the 31 local authorities across Ireland, with Dublin City Council with the largest employee count of all the councils with 5,330 staff. Non-commercial state agencies , or government agencies are autonomously run state agencies assigned with

448-539: The National Manpower Service and the Youth Employment Agency. The Irish word fás formed by the acronym means "growth", and the authority was created in 1980s Ireland during the long economic downturn of the time. The authority ran a number of JobCentres in Ireland to facilitate those seeking employment, however it had occasionally been criticised, not least for the perception that it is simply

476-476: The State typically comprises specialised agencies. The Revenue Commissioners , Central Statistics Office , Office of Public Works , Comptroller and Auditor General , Courts Service of Ireland , Director of Public Prosecutions , Legal Aid Board and Prisons Service are all considered to be part of the Civil Service of the State, as opposed to being non-commercial semi-state bodies , like Fáilte Ireland and IDA Ireland . Other offices are also prescribed under

504-443: The composition of the committees, and parents of students under 18 and members of the staff were also entitled to elect committee members. Members could also be appointed to represent the interests of students, voluntary organisations, community organisations, Irish language interests and business. In October 2010 the Department of Education announced that the number of VECs was to be reduced from 33 to 16 by amalgamation In 2011

532-499: The duties of VECs increased, in particular in the area of adult education. These included: Post-primary (secondary) education Further and adult education VECs also administered maintenance grants and bursaries for third-level education until 2012. In September 2008, County Dublin VEC opened the first Community National School , in Porterstown , Dublin 15. This marked the first time

560-496: The health sector totalled just over €13.6 billion in 2016. The justice sector refers to policing in Ireland, specifically the Garda Síochána , which has a workforce, not counting civilian staff of 13,261. Spending on policing amounted to €1.4 billion in 2016. Local government in Ireland is undertaken by 31 local authorities, each one corresponding to a city or county. Employees of local authorities are considered to be part of

588-509: The largest by employee being the Child and Family Agency with 3,554 staff. Vocational Education Committee A Vocational Education Committee ( VEC ) ( Irish : Coiste Gairmoideachais ) was a statutory local education body in Ireland that administered some secondary education, most adult education and a very small amount of primary education in the state. Before 1992 VECs had authority over

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616-611: The newly created Borough of Dún Laoghaire . The number of VECs was reduced to the final number of thirty-three when five town committees were amalgamated with the adjacent county committees, leaving Dún Laoghaire as the only VEC area not consisting of a city or county. Each Vocational Education Committee was elected by the county, borough or urban district council and consisted partly of councillors and partly of persons with an "interest and experience in education" and who could be recommended by bodies "interested in manufacture or trades". The Vocational Education (Amendment) Act 2001 changed

644-572: The total number of personnel of the Irish Defence Forces , which consists of the Irish Army , Naval Service and Air Corps . Personnel numbers for each of the three services is as follows: State spending on defence totalled €895 million for 2016. The education sector represents the second largest sector of the Irish public service, with 96,432 employees working in primary, post-primary and third level institutes. The breakdown of this figure

672-491: The work of the Government, through the various Departments of State, of which there are eighteen; one for each Minister of the Government. Each department is led by a senior civil servant known as the Secretary General (often referred to as "departmental head" in the media). The most senior civil servant and head of the civil service is the Secretary General to the Government, currently John Callinan. The Secretary General to

700-503: Was absorbed into the restructured local Vocational Education Committees which were retitled Education and Training Boards in July 2013. Public service bodies of the Republic of Ireland Two-thirds of the public service is in the health and education sectors (doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants (HCAs), consultants, teachers, classroom assistants, etc.). The Civil Service of Ireland

728-487: Was brought to bear on FÁS Director General Roddy Molloy to resign, although then- Taoiseach Brian Cowen spoke in support of Molloy both publicly and in the Dáil. Molloy went so far as to appear on the Pat Kenny Show on RTÉ Radio 1 to defend the expenses incurred. However, under ever increasing pressure, Molloy resigned as Director General on 25 November 2008. In September 2009 the board announced it would resign and

756-612: Was run by a board appointed by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment , composed of employer and trade union representatives. Dissolved in 2013, its functions were taken on by SOLAS and the Education and Training Board . The authority, whose Irish language name literally translates as "the Labour Facilities Foundation", was the successor to An Chomhairle Oiliúna ("the training council", commonly referred to as AnCO),

784-473: Was to administer continuation and technical education for 14- to 16-year-olds. Continuation education was defined as "general and practical training in preparation for employment in trades", while technical education was described as "pertaining to trades, manufacturers, commerce and other industrial pursuits". To this end the VECs were charged with the duty of setting up and maintaining vocational schools . Over time

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