Fair Deal, the State’s nursing home support scheme, has become the Achilles heel of the acute hospital system, according to HSE director general Tony O’Brien.

The State Claims Agency resolved 487 clinical negligence claims last year costing €69.6m, an Oireachtas committee has been told.

The new Child and Family Agency needs more money to fulfil its brief and is being weighed down by "unsustainable" legal spending, including historical court bills.

New laws reforming the limited ban on abortion could be in place by the summer, Health Minister Dr James Reilly has revealed.

The Catholic Church has suggested a referendum be held to overturn the Supreme Court's X case judgment on abortion.

Church leaders will give evidence today before a parliamentary hearing on plans to legislate for abortion in Ireland.

Seventeen-year-old inmates at St Patrick’s Institute for Young Offenders could be moved out of the facility in the near future, Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald said yesterday.

A cosmetic surgery clinic at the centre of the breast implant scandal was severely criticised yesterday for refusing to appear before the Joint Committee on Health and Children.

One in seven children miss school for more than 20 days a year, it has emerged.

Children's Minister Frances Fitzgerald has committed to implementing the recommendations of the Independent Child Death Review Group.

The country’s Chief Medical Officer has vowed to ensure the fallout from faulty silicone breast implants affecting at least 1,500 women costs the taxpayer nothing.

More people are more active more often, according to the Irish Sports Council.

Health Minister James Reilly has eased fears the International Monetary Fund is targeting free healthcare schemes.

More cases of child neglect are being referred to the country’s care services, said the Minister for Children, Frances Fitzgerald, yesterday as she outlined plans for a standalone referendum on children’s rights later this year.

POOR ol’ chardonnay.

GARDAÍ are investigating the alleged rape of a teenage asylum seeker by a fellow resident of a centre in Mayo, after which she became pregnant.

THE “overwhelming majority” of public mental health patients who need psychological interventions are not getting them, the Irish Association of Psychologists in Mental Health has said.

AN inquiry into the alleged sexual assault of patients by former Drogheda surgeon Michael Shine will be conducted, Health Minister James Reilly has said.

Up to 3,775 people have applied for the HSE's early retirement and redundancy scheme.

ASYLUM seekers wishing to complain about their conditions in the direct provision system will be able to avail of a new complaints mechanism from January.

FAMILIES with brain-damaged children will collapse if a cash-starved charity is forced to cut its support services by 30% next year, an Oireachtas committee has been told.

A CHARITY supporting children with brain damage needs just €1.35 million in funding to save the state €15m in long-term hospital care costs.

RESTRICTIONS on dental cover for medical card patients are causing chaos, confusion and hardship, an Oireachtas committee has been told.

OVER 6,000 jobs in the Health Service Executive face the axe over the next three years, Health Minister Mary Harney revealed yesterday.

MINISTER John Moloney said there would not be “any point” being in his position next year if the Government does not provide adequate funding for implementing long-awaited recommendations on mental health.

AT LEAST one person dies from asthma in Ireland every week, but 50 lives could be saved every year if Ireland adopted an asthma management plan.

BREASTCHECK never publishes advance screening schedules because women with breast cancer symptoms would delay going for a vital checkup, an Oireachtas committee was told last night.

TWO theatres at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) cannot be used because there are no staff available to sterilise the instruments, the Joint committee on Health and Children heard yesterday.

OPPOSITION parties are planning to challenge the health authorities’ decision to withhold details on the number of patient cases under review because of concerns about the work of a Finnish pathologist.

TV ads for junk food should be banned during peak viewing times for children according to a doctor and Fianna Fáil TD.

The appointment of an independent watchdog to ensure the Church is implementing its child protection policy will be announced within days, it emerged today.

AROUND 74,000 malignant cancers in women will be diagnosed this year, up over 25% on 1994 figures, a startling new report published today shows.

There are a number of shocking aspects to a new report on the occurrence of cancer in women, not least of which is that it has increased by 25% in a little over a decade.

REGULAR cervical cancer screening could save the lives of 75 Irish women yearly, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday.

UP TO 5,000 people could die, with 14,000 possibly requiring hospitalisation when the next flu pandemic hits Ireland, health experts warned yesterday.

A SHOCKING survey yesterday revealed the majority of social workers could not be contacted about concerns over child abuse.

Mobile phone masts are accountable for adverse health effects on residents nationwide, it was claimed today.

A shocking survey today revealed that more than 90% of social workers could not be contacted with concerns over child abuse.

MINISTER Micheál Martin’s efforts to shake off the nursing home charges controversy suffered a serious setback yesterday when a former ombudsman excoriated the Oireachtas committee that cleared him of responsibility.

PRESSURE on the Government to reconsider its opposition to a total ban on TV advertising of alcohol could grow following a landmark judgment by the European Court of Justice.

A recommendation to outlaw alcohol advertising in sport is to be put to the Government next week by an Oireachtas sub-committee.

ALCOHOL advertising in sport could be outlawed within three years to help eliminate high levels of drink abuse by teenagers.