Troika reviewer hits out at Irish legal and GP fees

THE head of the European Commission review team to Ireland has hit out at the size of medical fees here, saying he would pay half as much to see a GP in Brussels.

“I am living in Brussels, which is not at all a cheap place to live… I pay half the price you pay when you go to see a GP,” said Istvan Szekely.

He also criticised legal fees, saying the legal profession and its costs needed to be brought “into the 21st century”.

Mr Szekely, the commission’s director of economic affairs, was speaking at a press conference held by the EU, ECB and IMF troika yesterday to conclude its quarterly review of Ireland’s bailout programme.

Under the programme, the Government is obliged to reform the medical and legal professions in order to reduce costs to consumers.

Mr Szekely said progress was being made on the legislation required for these reforms and the challenge now was to implement it.

The troika again gave Ireland a clean bill of health, saying programme implementation “continues to be strong”.

Picture: Ajai Chopra of the IMF (right) and Istvan Szekely of the EC at a press conference in Dublin yesterday