The Government is under-funding vital road repairs by as much as €100m every year, putting lives at risk and undermining the safety of road surfaces across the country.

A leading doctor has warned the Government that future generations will accuse it of ignoring A&E overcrowding “abuse” in the same way as “clerical sex abuse, the Tuam babies and Magdalene Laundry scandals” unless they immediately tackle the crisis.

A long-awaited independent report to decide on whether a state commission of inquiry is needed due to the alleged cover-up of serious foster care abuse in the South-East is expected to be given to Government before the weekend.

All children and teenagers leaving state care will be given specific aftercare plans in a bid to prevent recent “terrible tragedies” from being repeated under a new law set to be imposed before Christmas.

A Government backbencher has warned there is a “cloak of secrecy” around the wide-scale abuse of people with severe intellectual disabilities in hundreds of HSE-run care homes across the country.

The hospital at the centre of the centre of a damning investigation into avoidable deaths of newborn babies may see its services cut or significantly downgraded in light of the life-threatening care standards revelations.

The “independence” of Ireland’s health watchdog will be permanently undermined if it is prevented from publishing its damning report into baby deaths at Portlaoise Hospital.

A health watchdog has been urged to conduct a retrospective review of all complaints sent to it about alleged abuse at care homes after concerns they were not acted on due to a misunderstanding with another public protection body.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has come under intense pressure to open a public inquiry into the Áras Attracta abuse scandal, after families said the State cannot be trusted to root out what happened.

Senior HSE officials are set to hold a major summit on Tuesday over concerns the Áras Attracta scandal could be repeated in more of the country’s 900-plus residential institutions.

The sister of a woman who suffered sustained verbal and physical threats at Áras Attracta says the scandal has nothing to do with cutbacks and everything to do with "an accepted culture" of abuse.

The HSE cannot say how many ambulances have broken down, how many instances have occurred with a patient on board, and how many of these vehicles are still on the roads — despite major concerns over the safety of the fleet.

Anyone who calls 999 seeking emergency ambulance care may no longer be automatically taken to hospital if they are genuinely ill as the under-resourced service cannot cope with demand. 

A woman whose brother died from stab wounds on New Year’s Day after it took an ambulance 30 minutes to arrive at the scene has called for vital funds to be made available to reform the over-stretched service.

Nine workers at a centre for people with intellectual disabilities, which is being investigated by gardaí after the sudden death of a resident in 2012, have been taken "off duty" after separate serious abuse allegations.

Doctors have been told to induce birth in early pregnancy, regardless of whether the foetus will survive, if there is clear evidence of an infection likely to cause sepsis and potential death of the mother.

A HSE-run residential unit for adults with intellectual disabilities has been heavily criticised for failing to comply with stringent safety, staff training and hygiene laws.

Ireland’s health watchdog is set to introduce new standards guidelines for nursing homes for the first time in five years, in an attempt to clean up the sector.

A leading hospital failed to provide records to the HSE’s national audit on hand hygiene last year which would have shown it is falling far behind other facilities in ensuring patient safety.

One of the country’s leading maternity hospitals is potentially putting vulnerable patients’ health at risk due to ongoing hygiene problems on its wards.

Health Minister Dr James Reilly has been accused of suffering from a “frightening” level of denial over Ireland’s ambulance crisis after a series of scandals were highlighted in the system.

The “majority” of the HSE’s fleet of €100,000 rapid response ambulance vehicles are allocated to managers and “rarely” used for emergency call-outs, a special report by RTÉ’s investigations unit claims.

A Government report into the needless deaths of newborn babies at Portlaoise Hospital has been described as “reeking of whitewash” by a leading senator and doctor.

Ambulance crews have called for an independent “capacity review” of the service’s equipment and personnel levels over fears chronic gaps in the system are causing needless patient deaths.

Three board members of the State’s independent health watchdog group, Hiqa, have stepped down “to reduce the risk” of “real, potential or perceived conflicts of interest” in their work.

The HSE is facing a fresh storm after frontline medics claimed it has ignored life-saving recommendations for emergency departments for two years.

An independent investigation into concerns that ambulances are arriving dangerously late to call-outs because of chronic service shortages has been brought forward three months due to the serious issues involved.

Almost half of all vulnerable teens the High Court sent for urgent “special care placements” last year due to their complex issues were instead put on HSE waiting lists

The HSE is putting vulnerable teens who have committed no crime at serious risk by locking them up for 12 hours a day alongside others who have a history of arson and substance abuse.

The HSE’s repeated failure to meet life-saving ambulance target times is set to be examined by the country’s independent medical watchdog.

The voluntary hospitals top-up pay scandal is damaging news for both the sector and patients dependent on it.

The independent chairwoman of the HSE’s child deaths in care review has warned below-requirement social worker levels are preventing vulnerable people from accessing potentially life-saving help.

More than 70 vulnerable children and teens either in HSE care or who recently left the system have died since the start of 2010 — the equivalent of almost one fatality every fortnight.

Pregnant and elderly patients are at risk of ill health because the vast majority of hospital and nursing home staff are failing to get the flu jab.

On average, more than one child in care is injured every day, and more than 56% of those injuries require hospital treatment. These figures form part of a very disturbing picture.

A major report into the death of Savita Halappanavar has said some of Ireland’s 19 maternity units may need to be scrapped to ensure patient care.

The Health Information Quality Authority (Hiqa) report is an appalling indictment of the failure to implement a safe infrastructure over a number of years. The authority emphasised that the medics missed 13 chances to save the life of Savita Halappanavar.

One of Ireland’s leading maternity experts has no faith in the HSE to reform the system or fill dangerous staffing gaps in the wake of Savita Halappanavar’s death.

Patients and doctors alike have backed claims that some maternity services are a danger to women.

Pregnant women are being subjected to a “geographic lottery” as a direct result of “outdated, patently unsafe” standards in Ireland’s maternity service.

The family of Tania McCabe, a Garda sergeant who died in 2007 from sepsis following childbirth, were shocked to learn of “disturbing” similarities between her death and that of Savita Halappanavar.

Hospital staff missed 13 separate chances to save Savita Halappanavar’s life — including six in a single four-hour period.

Ireland’s health watchdog has warned it cannot stand over claims the country’s maternity service is safe after Savita Halappanavar’s death.

HSE director general Tony O’Brien has claimed it will take until the summer to teach all doctors and nurses basic hand hygiene standards after yet another hospital dirt scandal.