A war of words has broken out between Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan and Transport Minister Shane Ross over the Judicial Appointments Bill.

Alice Ward says it's frustrating that health system is not doing all it can to support her when she is doing all she can to beat cystic fibrosis.

The timeframe for the establishment of technological universities remains uncertain as Education Minister Richard Bruton prepares to discuss concerns of staff and others about the plans.

School facilities will be leased out by bishops and religious orders instead of fully transferred to new non-religious patrons, under Education Minister Richard Bruton’s plan to speed up the widening of choice for parents.

The Government has been urged to increase the number of educational psychologists across the country by 60% due to the volume of children needing psychological support.

Rural policing and station closures are back in the spotlight after a Garda survey found that people living farthest from a Garda station reported the highest dissatisfaction levels with the service provided to the local community.

AIB will cut its standard variable mortgage rate twice more this year, to below 3%, and while Permanent TSB will cut in the coming weeks, Bank of Ireland will hold firm against “political pressures”, Investec Ireland has predicted.

Lawyers are set to demand fee hikes for representing free legal aid clients in the criminal courts — just as the justice minister plans to tighten up the scheme and perhaps even disband it.

Business representative body Ibec has criticised the omission from the Programme for Government of the proposed major trade deal between the European Union and United States.

An extra €1.3bn of spending power every year for the next five years has been agreed by the incoming minority Government and its backers.

The Government has ignored warnings from the most senior local government officials that the method used to compile the electoral register was “out of date and in need of urgent replacement”.

A breast cancer drug has shown "unprecedented" benefits in extending lives in a clinical trial and experts urged its widespread use for women with an aggressive form of the disease.

Nessa Childers has resigned from the Labour Parliamentary Party.

The Programme for Government should be renegotiated rather than reviewed, Labour Chief Whip Emmet Stagg said today.

Lucinda Creighton tells political reporter Juno McEnroe that pay arrangements of middle to high-earning public sector workers are one thing she hopes will change this year

Fear of being sued by next-of-kin means surgeons will not remove organs from deceased donors against the family’s wishes even if Ireland introduces an “opt-out” system of donation, it has been claimed.

The Government’s policy of austerity is increasing the risk of causing severe damage to Ireland’s social fabric, according to a group of charities representing people with disabilities and their carers.

High earners can afford to pay more in tax, a Fine Gael minister has said.

IRISH citizens generally know as little about the Programme for Government as Catholics do about the Bible.

Long-awaited legislation on personal insolvency has been published today by Justice Minister Alan Shatter.

This weekend will mark the 75th anniversary of the referendum ratifying the Irish Constitution.

Schools will be asked to improve their efforts to combat bullying with recommendations on how to achieve it from a forum being set up by the Government.

During the Noughties Government buildings entertained interlopers.

THE prospect of a fresh referendum on changes to abortion laws increased sharply last night.

BORD na Móna has warned that approval for the development of a massive man-made reservoir in the midlands to store water drained from the Shannon is essential to guarantee future water supplies for the greater Dublin area.

A FRESH round of pay cuts could be forced on public sector workers despite the Croke Park deal delivering €600 million in savings, ministers have warned.

EMPLOYERS concerned about wage costs for overtime and Sunday work were told that special hourly rates should remain after a report stopped short of recommending immediate pay changes.

FROM a political standpoint it may be a poisoned chalice, but it is vital that control of Ireland’s benighted health service be restored to Government control under the firm hand of a minister with unequivocal responsibility for how patients are served and how the huge budget of the HSE is spent.

The Government is due to examine proposals to sell off our three main airports in an effort to raise funds for the country.

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny was accused of downgrading the centrepiece legislation of his first 100 days in power by rebranding it from a jobs “budget” to just a jobs initiative.

GENEROUS mortgage interest relief for first-time buyers is set to be abolished sooner than expected under the Programme for Government.

A team of academics has today criticised elements of the Programme for Government, claiming its proposals to reform local government and elections are weak.

The Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) today described the Programme for Government agreed by the new administration as a "mixed bag" but said it represented a starting point in introducing measures to assist the enterprise sector.

CURRENT income tax rates are to remain unchanged as part of the new Government’s fiscal policy to promote economic stability and growth.

SUCH rampant overcrowding at this early stage of the year does not bode well, writes Liam Doran

THE Green Party believes up to €5.7 billion could be cut in the budget without sacrificing education commitments in the Programme for Government.

THE Green Party failed to get its cherished law, to establish a directly elected mayor of Dublin, through Cabinet at its last meeting before the summer break.

TUTORS working at the country’s 13 applied behavioural analysis (ABA) schools will be allowed up to seven years to acquire formal teacher training as part of the Department of Education proposals to transform the schools’ structure.

A WICKLOW family returns to the Four Courts this morning to appeal a 2007 decision against their claim for state support for specialist teaching for their autistic son.

PENSIONERS who have separate incomes of €50,000 or more could face cuts to their state entitlements at the next budget.

THE revised Programme for Government has meant there will be far less upheaval in classrooms at primary and second-level schools next year.