A member of the Troika says it is not their intention that frontline health services to be cut.
Nigel Nagarajan is the resident economic and financial affairs adviser for Ireland for the European Commission
He was speaking at a European Commission seminar in Co. Kerry.
Mr. Nagarajan said there was a common perception that the Troika – the EU Commission, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) – had imposed austerity on Ireland.
Speaking in Tralee he said there would be more austerity in the country if the Troika was not there.
He argued  that if Ireland had not been bailed out the country would have been forced to balance the books which would have led not to recession but to depression with unemployment close to 30%.
He said the government needed to minimise the impact of cuts on the most vulnerable.
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