Several big names in politics are facing a Portillo moment as the election count continues this evening, writes Michael Clifford.

Speaking ahead of a debate in the Seanad on the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016, Ms Zappone said she accepts there is criticism but she does not agree with it.

The new Bill “pushes to the boundaries” and represents “a major step forward” she told RTE radio’s Morning Ireland.

Survivors of the Bethany Home have expressed their disappointment at the Government's unwillingness to commit a ‘fast track’ redress scheme for ageing survivors of the institution.

The report will be based on the results of a scoping exercise announced in May last year following the discovery by Tusla of 126 cases in which births were illegally registered between 1946 and 1969 in the records of St Patrick’s Guild.

Minister for Children Katherine Zappone says that her primary motivating factor in introducing the free childcare scheme was to rectify “decades” of a lack of investment in childcare.

Children's minister Katherine Zappone warned the collaborative forum on mother and baby homes against leaking its final report saying it would "damage" its work and "undermine its integrity".

The burial place of well over 800 children who died in the care of Bessborough Mother and Baby Home is unknown - despite "very extensive inquiries and searches".

A new package of health measures has been announced for former residents of Mother and Baby Homes.

The long-delayed report into illegal birth registrations will be submitted to children's minister Katherine Zappone before Easter.

Children's Minister Katherine Zappone today begins a historic Irish Government visit to Namibia.

A report focusing on the burial arrangements of those who died in Mother and Baby Homes has been submitted to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.

The Children's Minister says it would have been wrong for her to not tell parents to seek assurances before sending their children on over-night trips with Scouting Ireland.

Maintenance work is being carried out on a historic structure which backs onto a burial plot on the grounds of the former Bessborough Mother and Baby Home.

Adoption rights campaigners have hit out at the Government’s latest amendments to its long-promised information and tracing legislation.

There is something unsettling about the growing tiff between the child and family agency, Tusla, and Scouting Ireland.

Congratulations are due to the civil rights activists who have persuaded Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone to look again at her Adoption and Information Tracing Bill and cut from it at least one of its more obnoxious — and quite unrealistic — proposals.

Tusla has written to Scouting Ireland calling for an urgent review of how the organisation manages current child protection concerns.

A controversial provision requiring adopted people to sign an “undertaking” to not contact their birth parents in order to receive their birth information has been removed from the Government’s planned information and tracing legislation.

Youth services and the welfare of children in cross-border care will not be impacted by a no-deal Brexit, an Oireachtas Committee has heard.

The Government has been asked to “widen its horizons” and offer DNA sampling to all former residents of mother and baby homes and related institutions.

The survey is expected to last a number of days. It is understood that the survey is being carried out on foot of information received by the Commission from a member of the public.

The Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation has sought its second one-year extension, before it will publish its final report.

The report of the Government's scoping exercise into illegal birth registrations has been delayed for a second time and will not be finalised now until April - almost a year after it was announced.

The children’s minister is seeking an urgent meeting with Scouting Ireland after details emerged of 71 alleged abusers in the organisation.

The Children's Ombudsman is celebrating World Children's Day by live streaming a series of inspiring stories from young people under the hashtag #ChildTalks2018.

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone has indicated a referendum may be required to give adopted people full access to their records and birth information.

It was surprising to hear Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone say she was doing what she was doing with regard to the Tuam babies scandal because it was right.

State funding of Scouting Ireland will be suspended for a long as the current board of directors remains in place, Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone has announced.

By 2015, the department was being told by adopted people, campaigners, and even by its own regulatory body that a full-scale audit was needed, writes Conall Ó Fátharta.

The Church must accept responsibility and make reparation for its part in mother and baby homes which were a very shameful chapter of Irish history, Minister for Children Katherine Zappone told the Pope.

Minister Katherine Zappone has shared what she said to Pope Francis when she met him outside Áras an Uachtaran on Saturday.

Adoption campaigners have hit out at Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone for refusing to reveal how many adoption records are being examined as part of the “scoping exercise” investigating the scale of illegal adoptions.

The first meeting of the Collaborative Forum on Mother and Baby Homes is taking place today.

The Cabinet is meeting in Co Kerry this morning to discuss Brexit contingency plans.

Katherine Zappone has told the UN that children from the world's conflict zones could be the peace-makers of the future.

Former residents of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home have expressed a preference for a full forensic excavation of the site along with DNA analysis.

Parents will soon be legally entitled to more financial support to help cover the cost of childcare.

The State has boasted about 'fast-tracking' abortion legislation, but three years after the Children and Family Relationships Act not everyone's parental rights have been acknowledged, says Brian Tobin

Minister Zappone says she is determined that the

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Former Tánaiste Joan Burton has called for the Government to lift the veil of secrecy on birth details and adoptions to allow people access their personal histories.

The revelation that potentially thousands of people may have had their births falsified so they could be illegally adopted may have profound legal consequences — including for inheritance rights.

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone will hold talks with opposition parties in a bid to ensure a law allowing adopted people to trace their birth parents is passed by the end of the year.

One of the reasons we cannot escape our past is that we do not always recognise it as it was.