Madam, - It is a well-known fact in English soccer circles that the public endorsement by a club chairman of the club's manager is a prelude to the departure of that manager.
This unfortunate trait seems to have spread to political life in Ireland. - Yours, etc,
PETER EVANS,
Percy Place,
Dublin 4.
Madam, - Should FáS be renamed Uafás? - Yours, etc,
GERRY O'DONNELL,
Castleknock Meadows,
Dublin 15.
Madam, - The hypocritical posturing of politicians at the staggering abuse of Fás expenses is a sight to behold. How many ministers have taken their wives and children with them on foreign trips at taxpayers' expense? As just one example, dare we ask who paid the travelling costs of the family members who attended the Olympic Games with various ministers?
How can politicians can have any credibility in lamenting the abuse of Fás expenses when, for example, the two most recent taoisigh, one Fine Gael and one Fianna Fáil, have both claimed full pensions while still being under their normal retirement age and also being in receipt of large incomes from their continued full-time employment?
Then there are all the other ministers, ex-ministers, committee chairpersons and councillors, of all parties and none, who claim various pensions and expenses which are kept well hidden from public scrutiny. Why isn't the Public Accounts Committee probing this abuse of taxpayer funds too? Could it be because the PAC is full of politicians?
If politicians wish to rebuild trust with the public then they need to start helping people from the bottom up and cutting out public waste from the top down. - Yours, etc,
DESMOND FITZGERALD,
London E14.
Madam, - With reference to the Fás debacle, surely the area which requires exposure more than any other should be the apparent awarding of contracts outside of the normal tendering process. Who are these recipient companies? Who are their directors? Who are the real benefactors of this largesse? All of this goes back over a number of years, well before the present Taoiseach's reign. - Yours, etc,
BOB WADDELL,
Sandycove,
Co Dublin.