The sharp rise in spying by the Defence Forces is due to “enhanced intelligence” from a number of sources, an oversight report said.

Sinn Féin has been against the involvement of civil servants in mediating or attending some of the government formation negotiations.

Mr Ó Fearghaíl received the present while visiting the United Arab Emirates in late 2018.

More than €280,000 has been spent by two Government departments on VIP services at Irish airports over the past three years.

Health Minister Simon Harris has launched a blistering attack on anti-abortion protesters outside the National Maternity Hospital, saying their actions were “intimidating, sickening and anti-democratic.”

Leo Varadkar personally signed off on a plan to give former taoisigh perks — including VIP airport facilities, increased use of state cars, and the salary for a full-time secretary — just four months after he took office.

The government has announced an extra €50m in funding for RTE but put off making a long-term decision on supporting the troubled broadcaster.

The development of the strategy is part of a major restructuring of Ireland's intelligence infrastructure, a key recommendation of the Policing Commission, published in September 2018.

The visit comes in the wake of the assault of Kevin Lunney, which Mr Varadkar described as "barbaric".

Ten years ago, in the teeth of the great financial crisis, the then finance minister Brian Lenihan moved to cut public sector pay.

Pay for the country's top civil servants should be reviewed given an ongoing difficulty in attracting talent despite earning €200,000 and more a year, the Public Service Pay Commission has found.

The country's military officers have warned their patience is running thin and said if any other organisation had been treated as badly as the Defence Forces they would have taken industrial action by now.

Richard Bruton, the Climate Action and Environment Minister, recently described the Government’s Climate Action Plan as “ambitious but realistic”.

In the real world, our defences are adequate for about as long as we are lucky enough to be left alone, writes Gerard Howlin

New British prime minister Boris Johnson has appeared to snub Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's formal invitation to hold Brexit talks in Dublin after the offer was met with silence from Downing Street.

A revised general scheme of the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill 2019 has been approved, according to a government spokesperson.

There are fresh fears for the future of the stalled Cork event centre project after confirmation that construction inflation is running at 7% as efforts to resolve its complex State-funding mechanism drag on.

There have been furious scenes in the Dáil amid an ongoing row over a climate bill and the Government's use of so-called 'money messages'.

A senior civil servant with lengthy experience in security and intelligence has been appointed as the country’s new national security chief.