Troika targets free social supports for elderly people

The troika is targeting services for elderly people such as free phone, electricity, and travel — warning that Ireland cannot afford them as the number of pensioners continues to rise.

The baby boom is also causing problems, they say, pointing to the fact that child benefit is not means-tested or taxed.

The document, put together by European Commission staff working on the bailout programme, says that despite all the progress in taming the country’s debt and deficits, the job is far from done.