Officers at the State’s maximum security jail have won their claim to hold onto a special allowance for dealing with some of the country’s most dangerous criminals.

Fianna Fáil has queried how a company involved in the slow-moving Susi grants system — which have left some students still waiting for money — is now working on customer call services for the introduction of the property tax.

A breakthrough is reportedly imminent in the dispute over the Government's plans to use "outsourcing" to reduce the driving-tests backlog.

New figures from the Department of Transport have reportedly revealed the full extent of the fiasco surrounding driving tests in Ireland.

The Government is reportedly planning new measures to take provisional licence holders off the roads if they fail their driving test.

TUESDAY’S launch of the joint Fine Gael/Labour proposal to clarify the respective roles and responsibilities of both ministers and civil servants and also to set ministerial performance targets is to be welcomed as a step in the right direction.

IT may be unfair to blame a specific minister for a new problem, as the backlog for driving tests has been around for over a quarter of a century.

GOVERNMENT plans to reduce the backlog of more than 130,000 people waiting for driving tests were in tatters last night.

The Government's plans to outsource driving tests to private companies are in jeopardy following a decision today by the Civil Service Arbitration Board.

Jimmy Woulfe