Footnote 41 to Appendix C to Chapter 3 of the Report into Internal Control and Governance in FÁS indicated that in one organisation a single trip on which 52 spouses travelled was undertaken as part of an official spouses’ programme.

The survey response upon which the material was based had stated that the agency paid for the flights of 52 spouses of staff members travelling by invitation to an official spouses’ programme where attendance was expected or of benefit to the country.

The agency involved has now clarified that the 52 trips involving spouses were undertaken in connection with a set of international meetings. The original information was derived from a survey response which, as indicated in the report, (Footnote 19 to the report) was not subject of independent audit check. Footnote 41 has been amended on the Internet version accordingly.

The reasons why the agencies involved in the survey were not named in Report 73 was because 

• the report dealt with the public accountability of FÁS only
• any reporting of the material relating to surveyed organisations in an accountability context (other than in aggregate terms) would have to be done in a context where the agencies had an opportunity to comment on the report and where there was an appropriate level of independent validation of the content by my Office.

It is intended to use the material provided in the course of the survey generally as a basis for follow up enquiries in the course of financial audit work and any results following normal clearance procedures may be publicly reported.