The legislation had been due in Committee State in the coming weeks but this has now been deferred to allow the Oireachtas education committee to further scrutinise.

Fine Gael TD Maria Bailey has been removed as Chairperson of the Oireachtas Housing Committee following an internal inquiry into her accident on a swing at a Dublin hotel.

A disastrous start to their Joe McDonagh Cup campaign has left Offaly in a battle to avoid relegation to hurling's third tier.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has warned the FAI it must ensure "transparency and full accountability" on how public money is spent before the Government can help get the soccer association "back on track".

The board of the Football Association of Ireland was not told for almost two years of the €100,000 interest-free loan from its former CEO John Delaney, it has been confirmed.

Central Council will now have the power to open up provincial, county and national grounds to non-GAA sports following an overwhelming backing in Congress in Wexford today.

The availability of college places for today’s first-class pupils is at risk unless there is urgent Government action on funding, it has been warned in an unprecedented, unified statement by third-level leaders, staff and students.

Clare co-manager Donal Moloney will be on the sideline for Sunday’s Munster SHC final round game against Limerick — despite being handed down a significant suspension.

The Tipperary County Board have thrown their support behind embattled senior manager Michael Ryan in the wake of Tipperary’s elimination from the All-Ireland SHC.

Department of Health chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has ignored calls to resign over the cervical cancer tests scandal by controversially claiming he would not be doing his job if he informed ministers of every health crisis.

Cervical cancer victim Vicky Phelan and the widower of Irene Teap, who lost her life due to the same scandal, will attend a special Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting today to highlight what questions they still have over the crisis.

CervicalCheck refused to provide information to two concerned women who directly contacted the service in 2016, it has been revealed.

Permanent TSB is to be called before the Oireachtas finance committee to answer questions on the potential sale of 18,000 loans to vulture funds.

Three people have been arrested after a garda and a civilian were shot during a planned search of a house in Dublin.

Ireland’s appeal on the €13bn Apple case could take four years, according to Finance Minister Michael Noonan and he also believes the firm pays insufficient tax around the globe.

A number of government TDs are backing the idea of a Brexit minister amid concerns Taoiseach Enda Kenny is unable to focus on securing the best deal for Ireland.

Stormont’s Finance Minister has insisted he has no questions to answer over a party colleague’s controversial contact with a witness to an inquiry examining Northern Ireland’s biggest property deal.

THERE are fewer more experienced campaigners in the Dáil than Finance Minister Michael Noonan, so his reticence on the Project Eagle deal, where US company Cerberus paid just under €1.6bn for Nama’s North of Ireland portfolio, is pretty hard to understand.

FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee is continuing to study the secret €5m agreement between FIFA and the FAI, and could yet open a formal investigation into the affair.

Dublin Board chairman Sean Shanley confirmed there will be no further appeals following the reduction to €6,500 of their fine for July’s infamous challenge match brawl with Armagh.

Sonia O’Sullivan narrowly missed out being elected to the IAAF Council on the day Sebastian Coe was elected the new president of the international athletics governing body.

Jose Mourinho has decried the €5m Fifa payment to the FAI as “the end of the world” amid continuing calls for more detail regarding the circumstances of the loan.

Liverpool City Council has threatened to take legal action if the Premier League refuse a request to change the kick-off time of February’s Merseyside derby.

CIA director John Brennan has struck back at a US Senate report that accused the agency of torturing terror detainees, acknowledging that “abhorrent” tactics were used but defending the overall interrogation programme for saving lives after the September 11 2001 attacks.

The former GAA president on how the organisation is balancing its commercial responsibilities with its traditional core

A WEE PROBLEM

Institutes of technology could face industrial action by academic staff if they fail to consult them or try to change their conditions in any mergers to form technological universities (TUs), a union has warned.

GAA president Liam O’Neill is convinced people will have a deeper understanding of the Sky Sports media rights deal after yesterday’s Oireachtas committee on transport and communications debate.

Four senior Bank officials will come before the Oireachtas finance committee this week to give TDs an update on the mortgage crisis.

The number of discretionary medical cards in the country is 30% less than what it was just three years ago — despite fresh Government insistence there has been no unfair cull on the service.

Government officials risk causing 20 more years of needless deaths in Ireland’s State care services unless they fully implement detailed plans to revamp the sector’s aftercare system.

A Government report into the needless deaths of newborn babies at Portlaoise Hospital has been described as “reeking of whitewash” by a leading senator and doctor.

GAA director general Páraic Duffy has used his annual report to blast Dublin and Donegal, claiming they discredited the organisation last year.

Plans to cut the

The Government is prepared to fight the powerful tobacco industry head-on in the courts because it is determined to protect children from the scourge of cigarette smoking, Health Minister James Reilly said yesterday.

Parents are being pressured into giving schools hundreds of euro in “voluntary” contributions because the Government is failing to give the facilities the money they need to survive.

There's renewed pressure on the Governor of the Central Bank over the Anglo Tapes with Sinn Féin declaring in the Dáil that Patrick Honohan "sat on his hands".

The Oireachtas Education Committee has called on schools across the country to use generic uniforms, introduce book rental schemes and ban workbooks.

THERE was a synergy of sorts on Thursday between President Higgins interview in the Financial Times and the hearings in the Public Accounts Committee that day about the saga of misgovernance and possibly miscreance at the Dublin Dockland Development Authority (DDDA).

Today, some of the global leaders in the ICT sector will be in Cork for the Irish Technology Leadership Group conference.

The former director of nursing at Leas Cross Nursing Home has been struck off the nursing register.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore is expected to select a new chairperson for the Oireachtas finance committee at the weekend.

Central Bank officials have been summoned to appear before the Oireachtas Committee on Finance today, for questioning over the Ulster Bank scandal.