Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

The Minister will know that a number of months ago I requested from his Department a list of State agencies. After much toing and froing, I received a list of 150 bodies. However, that list was incomplete. When I queried it, I was referred to the Institute of Public Administration which lists 250 agencies. A number of weeks ago I raised the matter with the Minister at a committee meeting and he assured me that there was a comprehensive list of State agencies, but he did not send it to me. Weeks later I wrote to the reform and delivery programme director who wrote back to confirm that there was no such list. If the Minister is going to streamline State agencies, I suggest a first step would be to have a full list. It is astonishing that the Minister with responsibility for public sector reform who tells us he is going to smash quangos and streamline State agencies does not have a list of those very agencies.

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