When Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Finance Minister Brian Lenihan announced financial cuts before the Dáil recessed, they said all departments would have to cut their payrolls by 3%, with the exception of Health and Education.

Cork County Council has ordered the examination of a further seven landfill sites following the finding of confidential material at the site in Glounthaune.

Naas Town councillor Darren Scully of Fine Gael has sparked controversy by suggesting some single girls are getting pregnant in order to get local authority houses.

There is a high prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in our jails that should be treated, but it is being ignored.

The Supreme Court ruled that the Government’s scheme for risk equalisation in the health insurance market should be set aside. The ruling was not that community rating — whereby people of various ages are entitled to insurance at the same rate as younger people — was unconstitutional, but that Health Minister Mary Harney had exceeded her authority under the Health Insurance Act of 1994 in how which she sought to enforce risk equalisation.

Irish babies are no longer available for adoption. Any couple wishing to adopt a baby abroad has to go through enormous red tape, which can take up to five years in some countries.

The Health Information and Quality Authority’s (HIQA) report into the misdiagnosis of cancer patient “A” examined the pathology services at University Hospital Galway (UHG).

Despite the current downturn in the economy, more than 100,000 jobs will be filled by recruitment agencies this year. As a result, much of the current doom and gloom is unfounded.

Ireland appears before the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva today. A report was issued yesterday on human rights conditions in this country.

The appointment of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern to the advisory group of the World Economic Forum’s Council on Negotiations and Conflict Resolution is a deserved tribute to the seminal role that he played in helping cement the peace process in Northern Ireland.