Irish presidency of EU to cost taxpayers €60m

Ireland’s presidency of the European Union will reportedly cost the taxpayer a total of more than €60m.

Reports this morning said estimates released by the Department of Finance showed that total spending on the presidency was expected to exceed €60m by the time the six-month stint expired at the end of this month.

Up to €8.5m will have been spent on security and policing.

Fine Gael has expressed concern that much of the cost may have been incurred because of informal meetings that produced little of any value.

The Labour Party, meanwhile, has accused government ministers of running up the cost by holding such meetings in their own constituencies for electoral purposes.