People living in the countryside should to be able to apply for gun licences to protect themselves and their property, according to a rural TD.

Garda numbers are set to drop below the minimum floor of 13,000 officers set by the Garda Commissioner unless recruitment begins again, it emerged yesterday.

A CO Limerick TD has hit out at attempts to retain two Dáil constituencies in Kerry, saying it could only be done at the expense of his county.

Independent Deputy Michael Healy Rae has been released from hospital after he took ill in Leinster House yesterday.

Michael Healy-Rae is still being treated at St James' Hospital in Dublin this morning.

WORKING families have warned they risk homelessness because of cuts hidden in the Social Welfare Bill rushed through the Dáil yesterday.

INDEPENDENT TD Michael Healy-Rae has bowed to pressure to pay €2,600 for thousands of phonecalls made within Dáil Eireann that helped him win a television show.

Kerry South TD Michael Healy-Rae said he is "the only person in Ireland that’s paying for other people’s phone bills" as he announced today that he intends to pay back €2,600 in costs incurred by the taxpayer as a result of calls to premium rate phone lines from Leinster House.

Kerry South TD Michael Healy-Rae has indicated that he intends to pay back some €2,600 in costs incurred by the taxpayer as a result of calls to premium rate phone lines from Leinster House.

Kerry South TD Michael Healy Rae is facing continuing pressure to repay the cost to the taxpayer of premium rate phone calls.

FORMER ceann comhairle, John O’Donoghue, has promised to keep a close eye on his expenses if returned to the Dáil.

FORMER Marine Minister Frank Fahey insisted he was “never dishonest” and has no regrets over his handling of a scheme to compensate fishermen for lost vessels which the opposition said was “rigged” to suit his constituents.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has met the Oireachtas Commission to discuss the issue of expenses for TDs, Senators and government ministers.

John O’Donoghue: The outgoing Ceann Comhairle will hold on to a number of perks in retirement.

EDUCATION Minister Batt O’Keeffe indicated that Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue may have questions to answer about his expenses and whether he should return some of the costs of his foreign travel.

CEANN Comhairle John O’Donoghue was at his desk meeting constituents yesterday – but has yet to comment publicly on his recent expenses controversy.

SIPTU is to ask the Labour Relations Commission to intervene to get better redundancy terms for its members who have been let go by Smurfitt Kappa in Cork.

VALENTIA and Malin Head coastguard stations have been saved from threatened closure, it was revealed last night.

INDEPENDENT TD Jackie Healy-Rae has refused to rule out dropping his support for the Government unless his concerns on the growing pupil-teacher ratio in south Kerry schools are addressed by Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe next week.

Outgoing Finance Minister Brian Cowen was today elected Taoiseach by the Dáil to succeed Bertie Ahern.

WITH the ending of two family dynasties in Kerry, the Labour Party is in a serious situation and could be without a Dáil seat in the county after the next election.

FAMILIES in rural Ireland are facing daily school runs of up to 40 miles because new seating arrangements have reduced space on school buses.

The Labour Party will decide today whether or not there will be a presidential contest in the country next month.

LABOUR leader Pat Rabbitte gave top jobs to the party’s old guard on his front bench yesterday in a bid to heal internal dissent over the prominence of former Democratic Left colleagues within the party.