More State agencies may face the axe

THE slashing of 41 State agencies will be a “first installment” in a long term plan of reducing so-called quangos, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said last night.

He said getting rid of 41 agencies, including the Combat Poverty Agency and the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, was “not just about saving money but about accountability as well”.

He said many of these bodies are “autonomous in their operation and at one remove from the taxpayer” yet they are making decisions that ministers should be accountable for.