EU raises fears on water, drug spending

The Government must ensure there is enough funding to rebuild the country’s water supply network and will miss its target to cut the national drugs expenditure, the EU said.

In a post-bailout report on Ireland, the EU said the Government will not reach its target to cut the amount the HSE spends on patented medicines. It urged the Government to start a debate —ahead of the election — about responsible public spending in the years to come.

The report — written by some of the same EU officials who supervised the bailout — notes that the status of Irish Water in terms of Government accounting will be determined in October at the latest, when Eurostat, the EU statistics office, decides on whether to reclassify the company as an off-balance sheet utility in respect of national debt.