Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

It is interesting and has perhaps confirmed my point that in response to each priority question we have been referring constantly to independent bodies in which the Minister has no role. In certain cases, there is confusion over which body has authority. I asked my question on the back of a report by TASC entitled Outsourcing Government: Public Bodies and Accountability. It raised real concerns about the level of outsourcing, which is sometimes appropriate, and also about the lack of accountability under this process. I noticed in particular that 90% of the budget of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment was allocated to outside agencies. This contrasts with other Departments and TASC's assessment clashes with that of the Minister. We can go through the details ourselves at a later stage.

TASC states that of the 29 public bodies in the Minister's Department, only 15 are listed in the budgetary Estimates and only 14 were established by the Oireachtas. Does the Minister agree with the concerns over there being 450 such bodies involving 500 appointments by the Government? There is a lack of accountability and clarity regarding the agencies that exist, their remit and the source of their money. Does the Minister not agree that there is a need for a full review of our procedures for setting up public bodies so their appointees will not be regarded solely as cronies of members of whatever party is in power? Does he agree that financing should be utterly transparent and that there should be accountability to the Oireachtas so our democracy will not be diminished due to massive outsourcing of Government activities, which has become increasingly prevalent in the past ten years? This is what the TASC report concludes.

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