Political patronage and overlap in state bodies tell their own story

THE most derided pillar in Irish public administration, the quango, has come to symbolise what is wrong with our bureaucracy.

The organisations the term “quango” envelops are thought of as agents of cowardly ministers fudging accountability by keeping policy at arm’s length.

Yet there is little consensus on the definition or scope of the term. Fittingly there is a similar lack of clarity on the cost, nature, effect and reporting structure of the bodies labelled quangos.