Sir, – While further hardship is in store for many people there still seems to be no will to tackle costs of the 800-plus quangos – although they are estimated to be in the region of €13 billion a year. Despite the Coalition promises to reduce the number by 145, very little has happened.
A simple web search reveals the entire list. Many of these bodies simply duplicate the functions which the civil service is already paid to do. There are also a large number of organisations which appear unnecessary. The entire budget adjustment could be achieved from this source, with plenty of fat still left.
When asked about the drop in support for his party, the Tánaiste constantly blames it on the hard decisions it has to make. Picking on the most vulnerable groups when it comes to cost cutting can hardly be described as hard decisions.
What we need is a government with the courage to radically reform the way we do business. Substantially reducing the number of quangos would seem a good place to start. As Sir Humphrey so eloquently put it “There are too many snouts in the trough”. – Yours, etc,
JOHN Mac INERNEY,
Forest Walk,
Rivervalley,
Swords, Co Dublin.
Sir, – In the run-up to the budget, with most of the internal deals done between the politicians themselves, one piece of irony still remains to be ironed out.
The Fine Gael Minister for Health is looking at an estimated cost overrun of €400 million in his estimates and the Labour Minister for Social Welfare is under pressure to cut her costs by €440 million. Coincidence?
The health overrun is due in large part to the fact that 70 per cent of that budget goes on high medical salaries, whereas 100 per cent of the social welfare budget prevents hundreds of thousand of people from falling further into the poverty trap.
The betting man would back Minister for Health James Reilly and the wealthy medics to get their way on this one and the riffraff can simply get on with it any way they like. After all, what other decision could our wealthy lords and masters make ? The junior doctors are already on strike today (Tuesday) and we can’t be having any more of that. – Yours, etc,
JOHN MALLON,
Mayfield, Cork.
Sir, – Regarding the upcoming budget: are we all out of multi-billion euro clerical errors? – Yours, etc,
FINNIAN Mc ELROY,
Porterstown Road,
Dublin 15.