Why do we still have so many costly quangos?

IS there anyone out there who can explain to the ordinary Irish taxpayer why we need so many agencies — “quangos” — to run our country when we elect politicians and pay them handsomely to do the job?

The cost to the taxpayer of keeping these quangos in business has now topped €13 billion, more than double the €6bn cuts which the Minister for Finance is seeking in the budget.

A couple of years ago, the same minister promised us he was going to get rid of a lot of these quangos because they were too costly and unnecessary. Had he kept his promise in this regard, we would be well on the way to reducing our deficit to 3% by 2014.

Not only did the minister fail to do so but his Government has added more and more to those already existing — 800 of them — and this is surely one of the reasons our public spending has spiralled out of control. We elect politicians, not quangos, to govern the country. It’s time they delivered.

Nora Bennis

North Circular Road

Limerick