Placed in a HSE-approved foster home so she could attend a special needs school (her home was hours away), Sarah suffered the most horrific sexual abuse, says political editor Daniel McConnell.

Remove the element of accountability, and the bureaucracy always wins. And when unaccountable bureaucracy wins, citizens lose, writes Fergus Finlay

It was farcical. Just after 12pm, the 13 members of the PAC filed into the AV Room in Leinster House to address the media.

One of the whistleblowers at the heart of the Grace sex abuse scandal has called on Health Minister Simon Harris to correct what she has called misleading information, given on television last weekend.

The mother of a second girl repeatedly raped in the foster home at the centre of the Grace case has said her daughter must be included in the Commission of Inquiry into the scandal announced yesterday.

The Government has “betrayed” 46 other children who stayed in the foster home at the heart of the Grace sex abuse scandal by excluding them from the Commission of Inquiry announced yesterday, the Dáil heard last night.

TDs will be asked to approve the terms tonight, so that the inquiry can get underway as soon as possible.

Until people are held to account, such apologies are meaningless, writes Daniel McConnell.

The public Tribunal of Inquiry into allegations of a smear campaign against Sgt Maurice McCabe is to hold its first hearing on Monday, it has emerged.

Here's your lunchtime bulletin.

The Government is to appoint a retired judge to investigate claims of new evidence into the 1981 Stardust fire which claimed 48 lives.

The Communications Minister Denis Naughten has suggested it is not legally possible to force media owners to sell their outlets.

The articulate Waterford Fine Gael TD has long clashed with his boss, and Nama’s Northern Ireland loan portfolio is just the latest flashpoint, writes Daniel McConnell.

Political parties have written to the Taoiseach demanding a commission of investigation into Nama should be broadened out beyond the sale of its Northern Ireland loan book.

The report into allegations of sex abuse against an intellectually disabled girl at a Waterford foster home will now not be handed into Government until the end of August.

The Minister for Disabilities has promised to set up a Commission of Investigation into the care of people with disabilities in residential settings.

Up to 30,000 mothers and children are being excluded from the Commission of Inquiry into Mother and Baby homes, according to a group of survivors.

The terms of reference for the inquiry into alleged sexual abuse of disabled children in a Waterford foster home have been delayed, Minister of State for Disability Issues Finian McGrath has confirmed.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has rejected Opposition calls for a Commission of Inquiry into the sale of Nama’s northern loan book, following the arrests of two men in a fraud investigation linked to the sale, writes Daniel McConnell of the Irish Examiner.

There is an “immediate crisis of trust and confidence” in the Garda Commissioner, Nóirín O’Sullivan, who has been called to resign her position by Opposition TDs.

Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan claimed Sgt Maurice McCabe was motivated by “malice” when he highlighted malpractice in the force, documents from the O’Higgins Commission of Inquiry show.

Another Irish State survivors commission and The UK Goddard Inquiry — once again at enormous cost to the Irish State and taxpayers of many millions of euros, and as usual more to do with the Commission of Inquiry itself than the survivors it is supposed to help.

Children in a foster home in the West of Ireland were left in the care of a foster family for several years, despite serious allegations of sexual abuse arising against one family member.

Minister accused of trying to evade foster home abuse families

The HSE whistleblower who uncovered the foster care abuse scandal has held a “lengthy, constructive, and positive” meeting with HSE director general Tony O’Brien in a bid to ensure the issue is finally addressed.

There is an old saying: “It is never too late to do the right thing,” writes Daniel McConnell

The head of the HSE will next week appear before the Public Accounts Committee to answer questions about alleged abuse of children with disabilities at a foster home in the South East.

The Tánaiste Joan Burton has signalled a Commission of Investigation into Nama could take place if the Public Accounts Committee found there were issues.

A leading TD has “worries”, because the chair of the probe into IBRC once acted against the former Anglo bank. However, Catherine Murphy, joint leader of the Social Democrats, did not call for Judge Brian Cregan to step down, though the IBRC deals cost the taxpayer €10m.

Despite warnings about an impending attack, the Canadian government failed to take the necessary steps to prevent the Air India bombing off the coast of Ireland in 1985, writes Eddie Cassidy.

Michael Clifford examines some of the issues surrounding the O’Higgins Inquiry into claims of garda malpractice as its cental figure, the whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe, undertakes a judicial review to reduce the financial burden on him.

The Taoiseach has corrected the Dáil record and admitted he was in possession of letters between Alan Shatter and the Ceann Comhairle.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams says his party is not trying to undermine the Ceann Comhairle.

We, the undersigned, express serious reservations about the recently published draft terms of reference of the forthcoming southern Irish inquiry into mother and baby homes, and related matters.