Anxious householders and businesses in a Cork satellite town will have to wait until the year-end before finding out if Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure, Paschal Donohoe, will approve an €8.5m spend on a flood prevention scheme.

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed is refreshingly candid about the challenges ahead but his commitment appears solid, says Political Correspondent Juno McEnroe.

A minister has insisted the cross-party committee deciding whether to scrap water charges must allow the State “an opportunity to pursue” non-payers in its recommendations to the Dáil.

The mother of a girl with a rare form of epilepsy says she has been encouraged by the efforts Health Minister Simon Harris has made to secure treatment for the condition in Ireland.

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed is to meet with the chief executive of Ulster Bank at the end of the month over the controversial sale of €100m worth of farm loans.

Enda Kenny has been asked by Fine Gael ministers to begin talks with Fianna Fáil on any government options after he returns from his St Patrick’s Day visit to the US.

A host of Fine Gael TDs have spoken out strongly against the party doing a post-election deal with Independent TD Michael Lowry in order to form a Government, saying it would do enormous damage to the party.

As Cork’s most senior minister warned “it would be a disaster” if the city and county councils did not merge into one local authority, a party colleague yesterday labelled Cork City Council a “failed entity”.

A number of credit unions have not held annual general meetings due to “matters of supervisory concern”, the Public Accounts Committee has been told.

Changes to the contributory pension which disproportionately impact on women have been criticised by a Government TD who said they “contradict” the Coalition’s promises of equality and to protect welfare payments. 

The Department of Finance has said it is up to its minister in the budget to decide whether or not to address concerns over millions of euro being returned to supermarkets for selling below-cost alcohol.

Efforts to encourage more women to enter politics have suffered a setback as a result of the failure of the Taoiseach to include any female TDs in his junior ministerial appointments, it has been claimed.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is facing a backlash from backbenchers after his decision not to promote any female Fine Gael TDs to junior ministerial posts.

The new Junior Minister with responsibility for the Gaeltacht will take a refresher course in the Irish language after it emerged his proficiency in the language was not enough to conduct an interview on TG4.

The religious orders involved in the mother-and-baby homes scandal should be made to pay for an inquiry into what went on, TDs have demanded.

Fine Gael backbench TDs admit they are being overwhelmed with queries about medical cards from pensioners, but say Health Minister James Reilly should be given the chance to instigate reforms.

The issue of whether the late-night Dáil bar should have its hours reduced to normal bar hours is to be examined by an Oireachtas committee dedicated to overseeing rules for politicians in Leinster House.

Fine Gael Cork TD Tom Barry admitted he was not looking forward to facing his wife after he caused major controversy by pulling a female TD on to his lap during an early morning Dáil abortion debate.

Fine Gael has dismissed as ‘horseplay’ an incident during which Áine Collins was pulled onto the lap of party colleague Tom Barry during the abortion debate in the early hours of the morning.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has said the abortion bill will not lead to a surge in demand for terminations and that the proposed bill is more pro-life than current arrangements for abortions.

The Taoiseach has decisively rejected an intervention by the Catholic Church on planned abortion laws, saying this is a republic and he has a duty to uphold its laws.

Fine Gael backbenchers who disagree with the draft abortion legislation say they want to be able to repeal the law if the number of terminations increases significantly.

Confirmation from Independent TD Michael Lowry that he paid up to £250,000 (€285,000) to a land agent directly contradicts evidence he supplied to the Moriarty Tribunal.

Ulster Bank has been ordered to compensate any customers affected by its IT systems crash — which could last into the second half of this month.

Although it was the “hottest ticket in town,” as Taoiseach Enda Kenny joked, it’s unlikely many of the 250-strong attendance were left with too warm a feeling.

First-time TD Áine Collins said she considered emigrating to the United States because services in Cork were so poor for her daughter, who has cystic fibrosis.

A LOT of cliff-top land is not eligible for the single farm payment, disadvantaged areas, and grassland sheep schemes — and this advice on eligible land comes from the horse’s mouth — with Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney telling the Dáil he is quite familiar with the single farm payment scheme, because his family makes an application in respect of their own farm on the Co Cork coast every year.

The Taoiseach Brian Cowen is absent from leader's questions in the Dáil today as he reshuffles his Cabinet after an exodus of five ministers in the past 24 hours.

Banks could be forced to repay up to €100m to overcharged customers.

The board of Newmarket Co-op has been urged to reject any further takeover bid from the Kerry Group.

EDUCATION Minister Batt O’Keeffe was last night still refusing to tell taxpayers if he is one of the senior Government figures clawing back €100,000 a year between them for the upkeep of second homes.

FIANNA FÁIL backbenchers have hit out at the junior ministers in their party for saying they would be willing to sacrifice their positions for the good of the economy.

LIKE any good minister, Batt O’Keeffe is anxious to ensure he gets value for money for the €9 billion that he controls.

New Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe will today meet his EU counterparts for the first time in Brussels.

CONSUMERS are being totally misled through the abuse of labelling laws, a senior Fine Gael TD claimed yesterday.

Enda Kenny has named his new look Fine Gael front bench.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell is negligent in his duties for not building a new garda station in Dunmanway, Co Cork, it was claimed today.