"When is the Italian government going to wake up and realise that this is money down the drain?"
Well it isn't from their point of view - it keeps a lot of people in work, it saves the jobs handed out to old friends over the last 30 years, it pushes the issue down the road for someone else to worry about (maybe), it saves a nasty smell around at election time
Italian politics & economics is not like politics and economics in the UK