We need a paperless clearout of ‘Quangoland’

MY heart leapt for joy when I saw this headline recently: ‘177 quangos to be scrapped’.

I did a double-take. My heart sank when I saw it was not an Irish newspaper. Then, I thought, why not in Ireland also? Before our homegrown blight of quangos mushroomed, the civil service did that work, and did it quite well. The unseen hand of politicians in power conveniently surrendered responsibility to unaccountable bodies. It is time to reclaim those functions.

We have excellent (but under-appreciated) civil servants who have expert knowledge of the inner workings of quangoism. They can do as good a job as any firm of well-heeled consultants. Their commitment is unquestionable. Their duties are to liaise with the parallel universes of ‘Quangoland’.