Deputies Brid Smith, Richard Boyd Barrett, Gino Kenny and Paul Murphy claim a Bill seeking to link exploration licences with meeting carbon reduction targets has been “strangled” by the Ceann Comhairle.

Legal threats from coal firms have stopped the Government from introducing a nationwide ban on smoky coal which environmental activists and opposition parties are demanding.

The Department of Culture is considering the purchase of artwork from RTÉ when the pieces come up for public auction in London next month.

Leinster House has scrapped plans for a public "open day" this weekend over fears staff could be put "at risk" from Extinction Rebellion protestors.

The Government has been urged to explain exactly how it spent more than €3bn worth of carbon tax income over the past decade amid fears that this year's €6 carbon tax budget hike will fail to be spent on climate matters.

The Government has been criticised for “dragging its heels” on the establishment of a digital safety commissioner.

Anglers in the north-east say they are 'terrified' that a mysterious virus could wipe out salmonid stocks across the country.

The Government will publish draft laws in the coming months which it claims will end the “era of self-regulation” in the social media industry.

The Government’s multi-billion euro broadband plan is at risk of being derailed after an Oireachtas committee called for a three-month freeze of the project to force a re-examination of its €3bn cost and the entire tendering process.

The Government is refusing to say if it will accept calls to reform its multi-billion euro broadband plan which could force the project to stay in public ownership and subject it to another in-depth review.

We must change the way we use land and produce food if we are to save the planet, a UN climate report warns.

People using phones or laptops to watch TV are set to be hit with new charges as part of a clampdown on those who avoid the TV licence fee.

Social media content moderators need to be afforded supports similar to those provided to frontline workers due to the stresses associated with the job, according to a privacy expert.

A cross-party report on whether to support or reject the Government's controversial broadband plans will not be published until August 20 because of differing views on its findings.

The Government will sign a €3bn contract for the supply of rural broadband later this year after categorically ruling out an offer of a cheaper option for high-speed connections.

So that’s nearly Wednesday wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

The Department of Communications has said the proposal by Eir to roll out the National Broadband Plan for less than a €1bn is not feasible.

The Department of Communications has insisted it has no role in deciding which of An Post’s four mail centres is to be closed, following the passing of a Dáil motion calling on the Government to instruct the company to keep its centre in Cork.

The Chinese telecoms giant battling claims it poses a security risk has said it has not been contacted by the Irish agency conducting a security review of proposed 5G systems.

Accepting Eir’s offer to deliver the National Broadband Plan at a cut price would be illegal, top officials in the Department of Communications have claimed.

The National Broadband Plan's tendering process was not fit for purpose, according to Fianna Fáil.

Controversies surrounding Chinese telecoms company Huawei are not impacting on the company’s business, the firm’s country director for Ireland has said.

Facebook and Google have told the Government they do not want any new online regulator intervening in complaints about content on their platforms before their own internal review systems have been exhausted.

The National Broadband Plan has been thrown into fresh confusion after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Government will consider Eir’s claim it could deliver it for less than €1bn.

The Taoiseach has indicated that the Government could restart the National Broadband Plan (NBP) tender process after Eir claimed they could deliver the high speed network for one third of the current price.

Yesterday’s statement to the Oireachtas communications committee from Eir chief executive Carolan Lennon that her company could complete the National Broadband Plan for less than €1bn, a third of the figure the State has agreed to

The former state telephone company, Eir, will today claim it could have delivered the Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) for under €1bn, one-third of its estimated final cost.

The consortium developing the State’s multibillion-euro national broadband project has been accused of “bringing nothing” to the plan amid claims a separate company is part-funding its investment.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he supports an Oireachtas investigation into the national broadband plan, amid opposition warnings that billions of euro more must be found to fund the project.

The civil servant overseeing the broadband plan has strongly defended the project, insisting that any decision to halt it would “likely result in the marginalisation of rural communities.”

The three best "plan B" alternatives to the Government's €3bn national broadband plan will cost more, take longer to put in place and leave up to half of households without high-speed internet access.

Department of Communications officials are drawing up a number of options on the future of the national broadband plan - including not proceeding with the multi-billion euro project.

A dispute between a wind farm company and a farmer, over an agreement about access to his land, has taken a twist, after another wind farm company claimed it also had an agreement with him.

The departure of Denis Naughten in controversial circumstances forced Leo Varadkar to move Education Minister Richard Bruton over to Naughten's embattled Department of Communications, to salvage the National Broadband Plan, writes Daniel McConnell

Joe McHugh has been confirmed as the new Minister for Education.

The Government must proceed “without delay” on the National Broadband Plan (NBP), according to business group Ibec, as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he expects the contract to be signed “this autumn”.

Spotlight on national broadband plan as Eir sold again in €3.5bn transaction

The high cost of bin charges is making it increasingly tempting for people living in rural areas to dump their waste illegally instead of paying for it to be taken away.

Our home heating habits and over-reliance on petrol and diesel cars are the two key areas compromising the quality of the air we breathe — nowhere more so than Longford and Ennis, Co Clare.

Independent News and Media — of which Denis O’Brien owns a significant stake — said it wants “urgently” to spark a debate over ownership and consolidation of newspapers and broadcasters in Ireland, claiming “unhelpful” regulatory conditions were placed this year on its now aborted bid to take over regional publisher Celtic Media.

Fears have been expressed that one of the country’s best known angling rivers could soon be devoid of salmon and cost the economy millions of euro in lost revenue.

The Government has been warned that more post offices will close around the country, because postmasters cannot make a living from the business.

Latest: The Dáil has voted for a waste collection pricing “watchdog”, as the row over proposed new bin charges escalated.