The Department of Finance has been urged to demand the EU relaxes Ireland’s fiscal spending rules after senior officials admitted the housing crisis and other social issues are a “risk” that cannot be ignored.

The winner of the controversial multi-billion euro Project Eagle Nama deal paid two firms heavily involved in a previous bid stg£15m for help "accessing" Finance Minister Michael Noonan and "the Northern Ireland executive".

The Department of Finance has expressed disquiet with Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan for failing to share full information on mortgage matters before the Dáil.

After eight years, €64bn in bailout money, dozens of banking inquiry witnesses, and one hugely controversial blanket guarantee, former taoiseach Brian Cowen will finally give his side of the story on what caused the economic crisis.

The European Central Bank has raised the level of emergency cash available to Greek banks by €1.1bn, people familiar with the decision said, as Ireland makes contingency plans in case Greece is forced to exit the euro.

Former IBRC chairman Alan Dukes has criticised remarks made by a top civil servant and said Department of Finance officials adopted an “attitude of suspicion” towards the bank that led to “unproductive tensions” between both sides.

Arrogance, a culture of ignoring damage done to the country, and a desire not to be answerable to anyone all existed in IBRC, a top official in the Department of Finance has claimed.

The new rules for mortgage lending will have less of an impact on the property market than “people might think”, according to the governor of the Central Bank, Patrick Honohan, who said their aim was to prevent another housing bubble from forming.

The country’s largest trade union has claimed the Central Bank’s plans to require homebuyers to have a 20% deposit in place for a mortgage “will put home ownership beyond the reach of thousands of individuals and couples”.

There were a number of flaws with Ireland’s EU/IMF bailout programme, although the outcome was much more positive than if the country had tried to avoid official assistance, according to Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan.

The agreement of the bidders on the IBRC mortgage book to voluntarily comply with the consumer code on mortgage arrears is unenforceable and has not even been written down, according to the IBRC special liquidators.

A senior official with the Department of Finance has told the High Court that promissory notes issued in 2010 by the finance minister to recapitalise Anglo Irish Bank and other institutions for €31bn were “unusual” instruments but not unlawful.

The Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise has apologised to the family of an eight-year-old Brazilian boy who tragically died from an infection 18 hours after he was discharged from their care.

Central Bank deputy governor Matthew Elderfield will leave the post in October to pursue other interests in the UK.

ONE year ago today, Brian Cowen walked into the Government Press Centre flanked by his Cabinet colleagues Eamon Ryan, Pat Carey and Mary Hanafin, and two officials from the Department of Finance, Kevin Cardiff and Ann Nolan.

ANGLO Irish Bank is expecting to show a loss of €17.6 billion for 2010, the largest annual loss in the country’s corporate history, as the institution’s chairman, Alan Dukes, said the Irish banking system’s total losses may amount to €100bn.

Dublin: Finance Minister Brian Lenihan will select Ann Nolan as head of banking policy as the Government continues its efforts to aid lenders.

The Government’s tax take for the first half of the year was €1.45bn behind schedule, the Department of Finance revealed today.

MORE than one-third of the 318 people diagnosed with AIDS in Ireland last year were born in sub-Saharan Africa.

THERE has been a drop in the number of people testing positive for HIV in the past two years, new figures show.

The Government was today urged to take further steps to tackle sexually-transmitted infections as it emerged the number of cases has quadrupled in the decade between 1994 and 2004.

Governments across the world must tackle the HIV/Aids pandemic which has now reached a new high of more than 40 million people with the disease, charities demanded today as they marked World Aids Day.

The Government must develop a national sexual health strategy to combat the growing levels of sexually transmitted diseases in young people, campaigners demanded today.

IN a Dáil protest to mark Irish AIDS Day, campaigners yesterday called on the Government to put sexual health on the political agenda by developing a national strategy to deal with the issue.

MANY patients in Ireland and Britain are not having their HIV infection diagnosed until the disease is at a late stage, new research has found.

JUDGE William Harnett's has been lambasted by health workers and politicians for his claim that people with HIV and those who die of AIDS all started out taking cannabis resin.

NEW cases of HIV infection in Ireland rose significantly in the first half of last year, according to figures published yesterday.

THREE-QUARTERS of heterosexuals recently diagnosed with HIV are women, statistics released by the National Disease Surveillance Centre (NDSC) show.

DEPARTMENT of Finance officials yesterday admitted that the deal struck between the Government and the Conference of Religious in Ireland (CORI) on compensation payments to victims of residential abuse was in effect a blank cheque.

MORE people are being co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C at a time when there is not enough information on how best to deal with the problem, a conference heard yesterday.

HOPE of a major breakthrough in the fight against HIV and AIDS has emerged after a US pharmaceutical company claimed it may produce a working vaccine within the next five years.