The Opposition has said that it will strongly oppose health legislation expected to be rushed through the Dáil next week in an effort to avert a constitutional crisis.

IMAGES of abused children used as lecture material in Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) will be investigated as part of an inquiry into the controversy surrounding the disgraced lecturer, Dr Niall McElwee.

THERE is no embargo on recruitment in the health service but there is an employment ceiling, a leading Department of Health official told yesterday’s meeting of the Joint Committee of Health and Children.

A CLASS A drug which is banned in the US is being sold legally in shops in Dublin, as an alternative to ecstasy and cocaine.

MORE THAN 80 operations and other scheduled procedures are cancelled every day in hospitals around the country because of shortages of beds and staff, according to health experts.

THE Government last night defended its preparations against any outbreak of the deadly Asian bird flu after a poultry virus in Turkey was confirmed as the same strain that killed dozens in Asia.

By Catherine Shanahan

OPPOSITION parties yesterday blamed a badly negotiated Government contract for doctors' massive earnings under the medical card scheme.

ALMOST €25,000 of taxpayers’ money went towards financing Health Minister Micheál Martin’s trip to New York to assess the effectiveness of the smoking ban.

THE publication of the third in a series of key reports on health service reform has been deliberately delayed as the Government will be unable to meet its recommendations, the Fine Gael party has claimed.

AN EXPERT appointed by the government has accused the Department of Health of failing to act on key recommendations contained in her health reform report, published three months ago in a blaze of publicity.

THE parents of the two-year-old girl who died after her heart operation was postponed have called for an independent inquiry into her death.

The Lyndsey Report, which examined the HIV infection of haemophiliacs, is to be discussed in the Dail today.

The Fine Gael Health spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell says that hospital disputes with nurses are being drawn out and has called for a unified system for dealing with nurses' work-to-rule protests.

PARENTS of severely disabled children and Opposition politicians yesterday urged the Government to review its decision to insist on educational classes for children in need of constant healthcare.