Madam, - Over the past 10 years there has been an unprecedented growth in the number of quasi-autonomous non government agencies (quangos).
In his article on the public service in yesterday's edition, Mark Callanan estimates that there are about 600 such agencies; others (eg Ian Burns in the Sunday Times in 2005) estimate that there are as many as 800, costing the taxpayer approximately €13 billion a year.
Despite the growth of this parallel government, the level of service provided to the taxpayer is questionable, and in my view we are getting a very poor return with large sums being wasted.
Mr Callanan is right to say there is a clear need to consolidate and rationalise this sector. However, I fear that if such a process were considered by the Government, no doubt it would establish another quango to do the job. - Yours, etc,
NIALL NELIGAN, Carysfort Park, Blackrock, Co Dublin.