FAS has been plunged into a fresh controversy today over a missing new car.

The Toyota, which was the first prize at a jobs fair, was due to be raffled among students and job seekers but was never given away.

The car was displayed during the FAS Opportunities Fair in 2000 and attendees were invited to enter a raffle – but the draw never took place, an internal report says.

Mystery now surrounds what happened, as auditors have been unable to establish whether FAS were reimbursed for the cost of the unspecified model.

The review of activities in the corporate affairs division of FAS found that the car was displayed and advertised as a raffle prize, but the draw was cancelled.

Licence

Then director of corporate affairs, Greg Craig, was responsible for the promotion but he told auditors that it was discovered at a late stage that a licence to hold the raffle had not been obtained. As a result, the draw was called off.

However, auditors said they "determined that the car was displayed during the event and very many attendees completed forms on the basis that they were being entered into a draw that did not occur".

FAS was invoiced for the cost of the car by the event management company who handled Opportunities 2000.

The showcase was opened by then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and attended by 130,000 school-goers and job seekers.

Investigated

In light of the fact that the car was not used for its intended purpose, corporate affairs director Greg Craig told the audit team he believed the cost was credited back to FAS.

But their report states: "From an analysis of material available to internal audit, this seemed not to have been the case.

"When Greg Craig was made aware of this, he said that FAS was then owed a credit in this regard."

The audit did not reach any exact conclusions as to what happened and instead noted that "this is a matter that needs to be further investigated".

The Herald tried unsuccessfully to contact the company which managed the event.

And a spokesperson for Toyota noted that their records were legally held for seven years and therefore they may no longer have detailed information on the transaction.

The full details of the internal audit have not been provided to the Dail's public accounts committee (PAC) and therefore questions about the car are unlikely to be raised in the current line of enquiry.

The Herald tried to contact Mr Craig in relation to the internal report but he was unavailable.

If he does appear before the PAC, Mr Craig is not expected to be questioned any further about the car.

However, vice-chairman of the PAC, Darragh O'Brien TD, told the Herald that Mr Craig was scheduled to be questioned about other topics relating to the management of taxpayers' money.

Tarnishing

"He does have serious questions to answer and I think he needs to come into the hearing and the public needs him to come in as well," said Mr O'Brien.

"FAS has done seriously good work and the great concern for me at this stage is that unanswered questions are tarnishing the whole organisation."

Rody Molloy, who resigned as FAS director general over the spending scandal, is expected to appear on Thursday.

Mr Craig, who has been on long-term sick leave, was suspended from his position last week but has since accused FAS of breaching its own disciplinary procedures in the process.

He previously told the Herald: "Its procedures state that all matters of discipline shall be dealt with in a manner that protects the dignity of the employee.

"Well, how was announcing my suspension to a public accounts committee without notifying me protecting my dignity?" he asked.

FAS has previously complained that the internal audit "report was flawed and seriously deficient".

- Kevin Doyle