`Quango Cull' - almost as many State agencies now as in aftermath of financial crash
'quango cull'
was announced following the 2008 financial crash, information released by Government departments shows.
A 'quango' is typically defined as an organisation to which Government departments have devolved some degree of responsibility, and which are funded by the State.
When in opposition in the run-up to the 2011 general election,
Fine Gael
promised a 'quango cull' and a 'burning of the quangos', believing there to be far too many in the State.
There were almost 300 such agencies by the time tough austerity measures were announced in 2010.
READ MORE
A subsequent 2016 review by Dr Richard Boyle for the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) found a net total of 37 agencies had been abolished in the interim. Although 62 had been shut down in total, 25 new agencies were established over the five-year period.
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Vow to scrap quangos unashamedly populist
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]
Of the 62 abolished, just 10 ceased to exist entirely. The other 52 were either merged with another organisation or combined to create new bodies.
However, newly released information shows at least 33 new quangos will have been created between the end of 2015 and the end of 2025. At least four more – including AirNav Ireland, which provides air traffic management – have directly replaced another agency.
In replies to parliamentary questions submitted by
Fianna Fáil
TD
John McGuinness
, 14 of the 15 Government departments disclosed new quangos established since 2015 (the
Department of Health
was not in a position to provide the information requested).
The information supplied showed a total of 33 have been created, or planned, across the 15 departments, in addition to four that have been renamed or had their role expanded (including
Coimisiún na Meán
, the broadcasting and online media regulator, and AirNav Ireland).
The
Department of Justice
has established the largest number of new agencies with 10 quangos introduced since 2015. They include Cuan (set up in 2024), the agency that deals with domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
Other new agencies established under the Justice umbrella include the Independent Examiner of Security Legislation, which reviews the effectiveness of related laws; the Office for Community Safety; the Judicial Council; the Legal Services Regulatory Authority; and the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland.
While the department could not provide information, several large agencies have been established in the health sector. They include Children's Health Ireland (CHI) and the Decision Support Service. Two more – a pandemic and emerging threats agency, and the Assisted Human Reproduction Regulatory Authority – are proposed by the end of 2025.
Other significant agencies created in the past decade include An Coimisiún Toghcháin, the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority and Home Building Finance Ireland.
Despite its early objection to 'quangos', Fine Gael's post-2011 coalition with Labour saw a more modest reduction, with an estimated 13 per cent of agencies abolished during that government's term in office.
Details of more recent agencies were furnished in replies to a series of parliamentary questions tabled by Mr McGuinness who noted that during his time chairing the Public Accounts Committee, it had been difficult to establish how many there were.
'Many of these quangos are getting enormous amounts of money and because they are one step removed from the department, there is not a direct route to audit their finances by the
Comptroller and Auditor General
(C&AG),' he said.
'The so-called burning of the quangos never happened. It's hard to see how many of them are adhering to good practices in terms of governance, as they are not subject to the same scrutiny as Government departments.
'We need legislative change to make the C&AG responsible for all those agencies,' he said.
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Irish Examiner
24 minutes ago
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Irish Times
36 minutes ago
- Irish Times
‘We have no choice': Palestinian women reveal exploitation working in Israeli settlements
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[ Exhausted and imprisoned: how life in the West Bank is getting worse for Palestinians Opens in new window ] 'I'm against settlements but, for me, there's no other alternative. Because of that I'm against the boycott of the products coming from the settlements but only for one reason, because it could impact the opportunities I get. I'm doing a big sacrifice. It's a huge suffering but we don't have any other choice. 'It's all about the family. If I didn't do this then what would happen to my children? I don't want them to end up working in settlements like me. They have been offered the opportunity to go to work in settlements but there have been incidents of harassment. It's not a safe environment for my daughters.' A vendor near a checkpoint where Palestinians sometimes wait all day trying to cross in Qalandia, West Bank. Photograph: William Keo/The New York Times Rita (50): 'You are held and detained for hours and they search our bags, going in both directions' 'I am single but I had siblings I was in charge of raising after my father and mother died. Four male siblings are married now, and two of my brothers were killed, assassinated by [Israeli] special forces in 2005 and 2003. I betrayed my brothers by working in the settlements, I only did it for one month. 'I received 90 shekels a day. The Israelis pay 150 shekelsbut the brokers take the rest of money. 'I began before October 7th [2023]. After, things became different. We had some really tough situations. For example, we were not allowed to go to the bathroom. So I protested and they were surprised that someone spoke out. 'When we went there we thought we'd be working in factories but it was grading dates, sorting through them outside on a plantation. They do the sorting in three stages: us women were the first stage. They would take the good stuff to go to the Israeli market or international market and the ruined ones go to the West Bank. 'One day I was at the checkpoint going home and I told the soldiers we were very tired, so I was detained for four hours. 'Even when we go inside the settlements, and they are looking at our IDs, you are held and detained for hours and they search our bags, going in both directions. I wish these settlements were shut down. I was once kicked out because of the inspection. They searched us on the way in and out because they wanted to make sure no one stole anything. I speak a little Hebrew and I heard them calling us 'thieves'. The Israeli guard said 'I don't want her to come back', and I said, 'I don't want to come back'.' 'I am totally against settlements and the expansion of the settlements. New settlements must stop. The settlers are becoming very violent because we are allowing them to become violent. We're not united and we don't stop them. 'I still feel guilty until this day that I worked in a settlement.' Palestinians in their cars waiting to cross a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus. Photograph: EPA Esma (36): 'We have to be at the checkpoints at 2am. Sometimes we sleep in the car ...' 'I have four daughters and one boy. My brother was killed when I was 14. He was wanted by the Israelis and they hunted him with spies. 'I started working there in the Jordan Valley, seven or eight years ago. My husband was against it because he knows about the things that happen in the settlements, especially for young women ... it was shocking for me at the start. 'I went there and started sorting dates. I later went to work in another settlement in a dry cleaners, with much better conditions than working in plantations. I worked for one year and got paid 500 shekels a month. During Covid-19, they let some people go and kept only the good people, but they also started exploiting us, giving them extra hours without getting paid. There was a lot of work pressure. 'At some point they made us sleep in the dry cleaners. In the whole day you get half an hour break for lunch and then go back to work. We wanted to pray but couldn't even get the time to pray. 'In settlements, there's a humiliation in our treatment. There was a gate for Palestinian workers and a gate for Israelis. Once a broker took me to the wrong gate, they checked my ID and found out my brother was in prison and made me stand in the sun for an hour. They released me, but only after the guard asked the Israeli broker to go and get a weapon as the guard said it was dangerous to be around me. 'We have to be at the checkpoints at 2am. Sometimes we sleep in the car and sometimes we can't sleep. Sometimes there's conflict at the checkpoints, they'd shoot gas bombs and sound bombs for no reason. We don't have any alternatives. Our government is not creating the opportunities for us to work. 'The war has destroyed everything. Because of the war, Palestinian workers are unable to go to Israel so they had to shift to working in the settlements if they are allowed to. There used to be Palestinian brokers making 600 shekels a day but now they're making 90 . The business owners, the settlers, say if you don't like it there are a lot of other workers who want this. I am originally from Gaza and they can see that on the system; I was held for three hours at a checkpoint as a result. 'They've brought Chinese and Indian workers and they're paying them more than the Palestinians, but they're not doing a good job. 'There's harassment, humiliation, especially for young girls. One of my employers fired me because there was another lady willing to take the job and go out with him and things could get physical. It depends on the personality of the women and the conditions, some of them are divorced, some are tempted, some are forced. They are pressured into it, especially in the settlements.' A car park at the Barkan industrial estate beside the Israeli settlement of Ariel, in the occupied West Bank. Photograph: Sally Hayden Lama (52): 'My family and relatives ... would prefer me not to go work in Israel or in the settlements' 'I have one boy and one girl, and used to live in Jordan with my family before coming back in 2021. I was surprised to find out that women worked in Israel and in the settlements because before that it was only the men. 'I needed income and had to find a job. There was a Palestinian clothes store near home that paid 20 shekels a day. I consulted my brothers and my sister-in-law who said there's an opportunity in the settlements where they heard you could make 220 shekels a day. 'Actually, it should have been 150 shekels, but the broker takes 60 ). I worked in a factory inside Israel too and got 280 shekels a day, with the broker still taking 60. We would use illegal crossings next to a checkpoint where they cut the fence and smuggled us in. We used to leave at 2am or 3am to get to the crossing. 'The first thing is the challenge of getting there ... We would get to the settlement and wait for the broker to pick us up from a very crowded area with no clean bathrooms. Go to the factory and be standing the whole time. We couldn't sit on chairs on the production line, couldn't talk, couldn't joke, you have to be moving the whole time. Your hands have to keep working. 'Some – especially old women – used to get diseases, like liquid in their feet, and they would go home sick. The buses were crowded because the more women, the more money for the brokers. We worked from 6am-10.30am, then the first and only break. Sometimes it's only 20 minutes. Then you go back to work until 3.30pm. Sometimes they say 'who wants to do some extra work?' and two out of the whole bus would want to stay, and the whole group will be forced to wait for them or work too. They were promised extra money but it wasn't given to them. 'The Israelis were not dealing with us directly, it's definitely a Palestinian operation. I didn't see any Israelis doing the same jobs for the same money. They wouldn't. We hear news from the workers being smuggled now into Israel after the war and they say the Israelis are complaining, they want the Palestinian workers to come back. 'There was a debate the whole time from my family and relatives. They would prefer me not to go work in Israel or in the settlements.' A car park in a settlement in the occupied West Bank. Photograph: Sally Hayden Maha (55): 'I would encourage banning trade with settlements if there's alternatives for Palestinian women' 'I am a mother of two boys and two girls, and I started working in settlements in 2015. I also went inside Israel, where they have industrial zones and big factories. 'Sometimes we'd organise dates and grapes, packing and sorting, avocados, mango, grapefruit, corn. It's exhausting, it's not an easy job. We had to leave at 1am to get to work because of the checkpoints. 'I then worked as a broker, because I was exploited as a worker before. I didn't want women to experience the same thing. I paid them in full. The women were very appreciative of that. I had a group of 45 women and I would get paid a commission just for bringing them. 'I wouldn't encourage working in Israeli settlements if we had the alternatives, our own businesses, our own projects, but this is our only choice. 'This is not something that we like, having these settlements, this is something that we were forced into. I would encourage banning trade with these settlements if there's alternatives for Palestinian women. 'We could invest in our local market, in our local agriculture. For example there are some Palestinian packing houses for grapes. What we really need are exporting opportunities for our products. If we can find these, then people will turn to these sectors. 'If the international community can support us to open channels to export our products then this would be good for us. Then we could control our life and our time. Our lives would become easier.' Nawal (59): 'I witnessed this exploitation of young women in most settlements' 'I started working in the settlements eight years ago. There was a bad economy, no work opportunities, nothing else to do. 'It was the worst kind of circumstances. No bathrooms: sometimes you just do it on the land. No privacy. The main cause of me leaving the job was the bad treatment. The harassment that took place was disgusting. 'There's a lot of harassment. Sometimes the girls are forced to agree to go with the men. They would go to their houses with them. If she wants to keep her job, if she wants more money, she has to ... it's really heartbreaking to talk about. They are 17, 20, they go to college and they come to work because they need to earn some money to pay for their education. The women themselves said this is the only option they have. I witnessed this exploitation of young women in most settlements. 'I got blacklisted when I advised one of the girls not to go out with the Israeli business owner. I said: 'Why are you doing this, you are destroying these young women's lives and future?'. And the settler responded saying: 'I have a lot of bastards in [the Palestinian city of] Tulkarem'. He has the power, he has the money, he has the work opportunity that these young ladies need. 'If a woman got pregnant he would give her nothing. Sometimes they do abortions. If she's a widow, if she's divorced, she would definitely need to do an abortion because she would not survive the community. If their communities found out they could be killed, they would take it out on her because they can't do anything to the Israelis. 'Now, during this war, it has increased because there are no other options. I wouldn't do it, I would die out of hunger not to allow anyone to touch me because of my principles and my religion. 'We need protection, we need income opportunities, health insurance, so that we can quit this life.'
Extra.ie
2 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Controversial Senator could get MEP seat if Kelly wins the presidency
Controversial Senator Martin Conway is in line for an MEP seat if Fine Gael aspirant Seán Kelly wins the Presidency. The former Fine Gael Senator is on the Fine Gael replacement list for the European Ireland South constituency. There are no by-elections in the European parliament, so every candidate must supply up to six replacements for their designated constituency to the returning officer. Senator Martin Conway could be in line for an MEP seat. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos Mr Conway became the successor after the untimely death of MEP and general election candidate John Mullins. The Co. Clare senator resigned from the parliamentary party earlier this year after being embroiled in two controversies. He was arrested after being found intoxicated on Dublin's O'Connell Street, and he also emerged as the Fine Gael politician at the centre of the 'inappropriate behaviour' controversy in the party. Seán Kelly has reconsidered running for the presidency. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile Seán Kelly said yesterday he is reconsidering running for the presidency after Mairéad McGuinness withdrew. Mr Kelly told Newstalk: 'I didn't look for a nomination the last time, but I'm going to reconsider. Fine Gael will have a meeting now and they will decide on their strategy, and then I'll see what I will do after that.' Mairéad McGuinness withdrew from the presidential race last week. Pic: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images However, one senior party source warned: 'Mr Kelly's ambitions and Fine Gael's interests will not be served well if the return, or if Heather's coronation, is dominated by Conway. 'We already had one rogue Senator John McGahon dominate the general election. We don't need another one dominating what will be a tight run Presidential campaign.' Members of the party hierarchy moved swiftly to deny that Mr Conway – the first visually impaired member of the Oireachtas – would be the replacement MEP, with one senior source claiming 'whoever is saying this is being mischievous'. Members of the party hierarchy moved swiftly to deny that Mr Conway – the first visually impaired member of the Oireachtas – would be the replacement MEP. Pic: Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland However, experts on the rules of the European parliament were more cautious, with one saying: 'Once your name is attached to one of those documents, it is impossible to take them off.' A source, supportive of Mr Conway said: 'The hierarchy can spin all they want but it is there in plain English that Mr Conway is the designated successor to Mr Kelly.' With the Fine Gael National Executive due to meet tonight to decide how to respond to the departure of Ms McGuinness, Mr Kelly's timing could not be worse. With the Fine Gael National Executive due to meet tonight to decide how to respond to the departure of Ms McGuinness, Mr Kelly's timing could not be worse. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie Though he says he has had a positive response from the grassroots, senior party sources say Ms Humphreys has the support of the cabinet and the parliamentary party. One key election strategist predicted: 'A Humphreys declaration will have a seriously chilling impact on Sinn Féin's ambitions to run for the Presidency. Five years in Rural and Community Affairs, the three biggest Social Protection budgets in the history of the State – Sinn Féin won't want to take that on.' Though Ms Humphreys had declared she was not interested in running even prior to Mairéad McGuinness leaving the race, one political veteran noted: 'Heather was at the [Dublin] Horseshow and all the old bounce was back.' Another senior Fine Gael source warned: 'Experience counts for something in this job. Look at Catherine Connolly this week saying we cannot trust the UK, the United States and France. We have spent a decade building up relations and she sweeps it away in a soundbite. The Presidency is not a job for gilded amateurs.' Heather Humphreys had declared she was not interested in running even prior to Mairéad McGuinness leaving the race. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos A Fine Gael source said: 'People are queued up preparing to back Heather. It's like a summer airport'. However, support is also present within the party for Simon Coveney with one source telling 'Coveney is perfect for the post. He is qualified after being in Foreign Affairs, he can talk for Ireland, he looks dignified, he is perfect at talking, nodding and waving. He will get the posh farming vote, the Munster vote, he is catnip for a certain class of women, he is the perfect creature to be a constitutional monarch.' Within Fianna Fáil, support for a Bertie Ahern run is rising after a snap Independent-Ireland Thinks poll revealed that at 14%, the former Taoiseach is level with Mary Lou behind Heather Humphreys (19%) and Catherine Connolly (18%). Catherine Connolly. Pic: Leah Farrell/ Within the party, anger is growing over a perceived procrastination of Micheál Martin, with one senior party figure warning: 'He's trying to play the cute game of putting up some donkey this time in the hope that when he runs in seven years, we will delighted just to have something better than a donkey.' They warned Mr Ahern, however, that: 'His authority is being challenged by this uncertainty.' Just two weeks ago, 23 TDs, Senators and MEPs openly called for Fianna Fáil to enter the race. Significantly a number of those who were supportive were Ministers. One TD said: 'Looking at the field of candidates, if we can't compete, that's a terrible indictment of us. Catherine Connolly is winning the Presidency by default.' Sinn Fein will announce if it running a candidate in September.
