Ceann Comhairle Seamus Kirk has confirmed the resignation of former minister Jim McDaid from the Dáil.

LOCAL education services face annihilation under plans by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan to more than halve the number of Vocational Education Committees (VECs), staff representatives are warning.

The Government said two weeks ago that Budget 2011 would be unveiled on December 7, which is 11 weeks away from tomorrow.

THE vocational education sector must be expanded to help stem the flow of emigration and prepare the country for economic upturn, a conference has been told.

SUPPORT services for schools, colleges and education centres working with low-skilled students could come under pressure as Vocational Education Committees (VECs) have been told to cut non-teaching staff by up to 10% by the end of 2012.

THIS weekend marks the official holiday exodus of our public policy makers.

THE idea that State assets, built up over generations to protect and enrich the lives of every citizen, might be sold off to repay international creditors has slipped onto the public agenda without debate or mandate.

THE mid-point of the year sees the publication of the half-year exchequer returns and CSO data on the economy. This will form the backdrop to the formation of December’s budget.

TRAVELLERS are hiding their identity from fellow students and work colleagues because of perceived stigma about their culture, according to research about their educational experiences.

PLANS for an overhaul of Vocational Education Committees are to be put before the Cabinet within weeks, according to Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe.

PATIENTS may be forced to opt out of attending hospital Emergency Departments if charges at the units are increased in next week’s budget, a leading group has claimed.

LATE-NIGHT quiz viewers risk being ripped off by phone-in shows because the technology driving them falls between regulatory cracks, a Dáil Committee has heard.

FAMILY Resource Centres around the country have warned that despite a growing demand for their services among vulnerable families, their future is under threat as a result of the McCarthy report.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has reiterated his insistence that - apart from the introduction of a carbon levy - there will be no new tax hikes in this December's budget.

ANY cuts to teachers’ pay or further education cutbacks look almost certain to trigger industrial action by 15,000 members of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI), who are to be balloted for possible strikes.

“ENOUGH is enough, you can’t get blood from a stone,” the Defence Forces’ association has warned, as details emerge of some soldiers having their homes repossessed.

HIGHLY paid officials in the Central Bank and other financial institutions have no right to argue for social welfare cuts, according to Fr Sean Healy of Social Justice Ireland.

THE Department of Education is expecting schools may refuse to keep pupils with special needs as a cut of at least 10% in staff employed to support them is expected over the coming year.

THOUSANDS of primary pupils are to get a boost to their enjoyment of reading thanks to a €185,000 gift from a Cork publishing firm.

PROTESTANT students could lose their constitutional right to choose schools of their own ethos if suggested cutbacks are added to those already affecting schools for minority religion pupils, a principal has warned.

A controversial proposal to reduce the number of local authorities around the country is expected to be main issue of discussion as the body representing councillors holds its AGM today.

THE Commission on Taxation report and Colm McCarthy’s An Bord Snip Nua report are expected to be the predominant influences on the December budget.

Age Action has warned that proposals for the introduction of a carbon tax must protect the most vulnerable older people from the impact of higher fuel prices.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has accepted criticism that he is long winded and needs to simplify his speech.

FEW newly graduated teachers will be left without work as long as schools no longer use almost 4,000 unqualified staff, Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe has claimed.

The Department of Finance has reportedly written to all other government departments telling them to draw up a list of cutbacks totalling €3bn by the middle of next month.

THE head of Bord Snip Nua was paid nearly €800 a day while drawing up its hit list of “savage” cuts in public services.

THE cruellest cuts of all have been to the overseas development assistance budget.

POLITICAL parties should be forced to run an equal number of male and female candidates in future elections, according to the National Women’s Council of Ireland.

MORE people with personal debt issues have contacted the State-provided financial and budgetary helpline in the first six months of 2009 than all of last year, it has emerged.

Fine Gael is calling on the country's education partners to discuss where savings can be made in the sector.

ALMOST 1,200 special needs assistants could lose their jobs in the next school year, based on preliminary figures from a review of 10,500 existing posts.

A €25 million cut in Government support for fee-paying schools would end up costing jobs in a sector already affected by education cutbacks, a teachers’ union has claimed.

BORD Snip Nua says agriculture, fisheries and forestry contributes only 2.5% of gross valued added.

FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan said ACC Bank actions resulting in billion-euro examinerships for two developers have made more urgent the establishment of the National Assets Management Agency (NAMA).

TÁNAISTE Mary Coughlan has indicated that a “social policy perspective” could render some of the more controversial recommendations in the Bord Snip Nua report off-limits.

FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan has put his cabinet colleagues on alert that he does not want to wait until December’s budget to implement the recommendations of Bord Snip Nua.

IRELAND will spend close to €3.5 billion – 11% of all tax collected – servicing a national debt of close to €92 billion this year, according to Bloxham Stockbrokers.

THE public sector recently received a 7.5% pay cut. The Bord Snip Nua report states that “there is little hard evidence of pay cuts in the private sector”.

AN Bord Snip Nua recommends “substantial reductions in the public service obligation (PSO) payments made to CIÉ, reflecting the need for major efficiencies across its cost base”.

IT was easy to tell the Bord Snip Nua report wasn’t written by politicians because it was clear, direct and easy to read despite its size.

Farmers are to hold a major demonstration today against government cuts to farm incomes.

THE OMBUDSMAN for Children Emily Logan met with children’s representative groups yesterday to brief them on Bord Snip Nua’s proposal to merge her office with the Ombudsman’s Office.

WITH almost a third of the country’s 4,000 schools awaiting funding for building projects, it could be many decades before the country’s stock of classrooms is up to modern standards.