Eight hospitals, five of them taxpayer-funded, are under investigation amid claims staff got gifts from a medical supplies firm in return for contracts and commercially sensitive information.

Health Minister James Reilly has been urged to scrap the existing HSE inquiry into Savita Halappanavar’s death by asking the Health Information Quality Authority to take over its control.

Groups working to curb alcohol abuse have welcomed a ruling by a Donegal judge which sets a minimum price on alcohol in Bundoran, Co Donegal.