Just two alcoholic drinks a week in early pregnancy may increase the risk of having a premature or small baby, and it is middle-class women who are most likely to drink more than this.

Arlene Harris looks at how the drive to get fit and ripped is encouraging young men to join Justin Bieber and Niall Horan in regular gym trips.

Áilín Quinlan talks to Peter Kelly and others about wrapping up and heading to the woods for seasonal fun.

The Government has accused an anti-smacking campaign group of misinformation and a lack of balance in its bid to have the practice banned in Ireland.

CHANCES are you haven’t had too much trouble coaxing your kids outdoors during the fine summer we’ve been having.

Clinical dieticians say community-based childhood obesity services are either rare or non-existent.

A young man is fighting for his life because the HSE has refused to fund a trip to New York for a “one last chance” treatment.

The Restaurant Association of Ireland (RAI) is hoping it can create 4,000 new jobs over the next four years through its proposed "Fast Track Chef" training scheme.

Health Minister Dr James Reilly has announced a series of changes to the Board of the HSE.

THE HSE, described as a vital new structure for the health service just seven years ago, is to be replaced with seven speciality-specific directorates.

A MOTHER whose son died in hospital after a severe reaction to an antibiotic yesterday launched an initiative to help people complain about the health service.

TENS of thousands of adoption files, some exposing illegal adoptions and birth registrations, cannot be inspected by the Adoption Authority as a number of agencies have not applied to be accredited under new legislation.

THE Cloyne report has stated its findings and they are truly shocking and utterly indefensible.

THE Government may have to lift its public sector recruitment ban if the crisis facing emergency department & services in the Mid-West is to be averted, junior minister Jan O’Sullivan has warned.

EMERGENCY legislation is to be rushed through the Oireachtas to try and ease a looming crisis over the lack of junior doctors.

THE Government may have to lift its public sector recruitment ban, if the crisis facing emergency services in the Mid-West is to be averted, Labour junior minister Jan O’Sullivan has warned.

TWO senior medical specialists have warned that the mystery E coli bug, which has caused 18 deaths and spread to 11 European countries and the US, will almost certainly turn up in Ireland.

A LACK of resources at the Department of Health means the new Minister for Health will have to decide which is more important — the need for legislation around when abortions can be sanctioned here or the need for legislation around fertility treatments.

Parents are being reminded to give their babies a daily vitamin D supplement.

A new website is being launched today to help tackle the growing obesity problem in Ireland.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen was urged to keep retiring ministers in their jobs until the election, it was revealed today.

Ireland will go to the polls to elect a new government on Friday, March 11.

SUCH rampant overcrowding at this early stage of the year does not bode well, writes Liam Doran

THE HSE has “no idea” how many private firms are providing a private home care service to the elderly because they are not registered or supervised, it has been claimed.

Health insurance premiums could rise by around 4%.

WITH an eye to the ever-changing skies outside, meteorologists have predicted no immediate let-up to the arctic chill that has already cost lives and widespread disruption to transport, business and blood supplies.

People must help each other through the big freeze as temperatures are set to plunge even further, it was warned today.

THE ultra-conservative Catholic group which attempted to prevent the Roscommon “house of horrors” children being taken from their parents received thousands of euro in state funds throughout the scandal.

THE Medical and Scientific Council of the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland is made up of healthcare professionals and scientists who look after children and adults with cystic fibrosis in the Republic.

NEARLY six years since its creation the HSE has yet to adequately clarify its roles and responsibilities in relation to the Department of Health, according to a government report.

IN your news brief headlined ‘Departmental responsibility’ (September 9), it was stated “the Department of Health declined to answer more than half of all parliamentary questions (PQs) sent last year, claiming it no longer had responsibility for the issues raised” and that “Hawkins House was unable to answer 3,179 of the queries”.

There was no psychiatric expert available to the gardaí to advise on the best way to deal with a psychiatrically ill man when they were confronted by John Carthy, an armed manic-depressive, at Abbeylara in April 2000. They ended up shooting him dead.

THOUSANDS of people are volunteering to be guinea pigs in clinical drug trials because of the recession and rising unemployment.

WITH so many Irish people relying on an income of less than €200-a-week, the prospect of taking part in a clinical trial that offers a similar amount for spending two days in bed has become appealing in recent times.

IN July 10 you published a long letter outlining the function of the Department of Health and Children. The focus was very much on the information and administration aspects. No doubt much of what is being done has merit and is serious business.

THE OMBUDSMAN for children has expressed serious concern about the future of the office and its capacity to investigate due to a lack of resources.

IN his column on the Department of Health and Children (July 6), Fergus Finlay knocks great fun out of questioning the role and function of the department and its ministers.

YOU know that noise Homer Simpson makes?

THE man in charge of child protection in the Diocese of Cloyne said he acted in accordance with Church and state guidelines by informing a priest accused of abuse who his accuser was and the nature of their complaint.

THE Air Corps have conducted 31 Air Ambulance missions since 1 January 2010.

SENIOR nurses have warned the death rate of hospital patients will increase due to the Government’s cutbacks in frontline nursing staff.

FIVE years after it was recommended by the Ferns Inquiry, the Office for the Minister of Children still hasn’t launched a publicity campaign informing children that they aren’t responsible for sexual abuse.

A HIGH pressure weather system lodged over Ireland has been keeping the volcanic ash from falling on the country, according to Met Éireann.

The loss of Sharon Grace and her girls broke hearts and bred anger, writes Caroline O’Doherty