Patronage overdone - Reform of quangos long overdue

CRONYISM, the political nod-and-wink, and membership of quangos go hand in glove and have long been at the heart of Irish politics.

As today’s revealing investigation shows, successive governments established so many quangos that officials have virtually lost count and barely know who sits on some of them.

Astonishingly, Ireland has 367 government-appointed agencies, boards, bodies, committees, councils, executives, task forces and working groups where 3,352 seats are filled by 2,800 individuals at the taxpayer’s expense.