Ford criticises first minister's office

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 8th Aug 2002

Alliance Leader David Ford has accused the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister of using 'too many cooks to spoil the broth' after it was revealed that the Department employs more people than Downing Street and the Taoiseach's Department in Dublin-put together.

According to the latest Democratic Dialogue report, OFMDFM employs 424 people, compared to 190 in Downing Street and 205 in Merrion Street.

Mr Ford said: "It is not a good enough defence to say that OFMDFM has a multitude of functions, and it could be asked why so much power is centralised in that Department."

"Perhaps there are so many staff because there isn't the level of trust between ministers that there should be."

"To many, it looks like there's very little collective responsibility and that only one Department really matters."

ENDS.