The government-appointed expert on child law has warned there can be no ambivalence over alcohol advertising and sponsorship of sports events, even if it means “tough decisions” have to be made.

Ireland is ramping up its preparations against Ebola, the health minister Leo Varadkar has said.

Some of Ireland’s top health professionals have called for a ban on slick advertising campaigns promoting sugar sweetened drinks to children.

There are fourteen times more couples in Ireland looking to adopt children, than the number of children available for adoption.

Nurses are being forced into making mistakes because of HSE cuts, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has claimed.

Efforts to restrict those under the age of 18 from using sunbeds will be discussed by a Dáil committee today.

A major reorganisation of child protection and family support services begins today with the establishment of the Child and Family Agency.

There are just 155 hospice beds available at a time when there should be 450, it emerged at yesterday’s meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children

Ten members of staff at a children’s detention centre have been on sick leave for more than a year, it has emerged.

THE sense of personal confusion among teenagers and younger children with a transgender condition can only be imagined by people whose gender identity is clear.

Yesterday morning, just after dealing with the latest details on the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill and the report on the needless death of Savita Halappanavar, the very first word uttered by RTÉ’s Morning Ireland news reader was “Ryanair”.

Almost half of adults in Ireland will be obese by 2030 if action is not taken, a Oireachtas Committee was told today.

Draft new laws on abortion will be published this evening after an hour of crunch talks in Cabinet.

The Nicola Furlong murder trial in Japan once again highlighted the spectre of drinks-spiking. But just how much of a danger is it posing in the pubs and clubs of Ireland, wonders John Hearne

A constitutional amendment is not needed to allow for the abortion of a foetus that has no chance of survival outside the womb, legal experts have argued.

No women have complained to authorities after having a termination performed on medical grounds in an Irish hospital, the Irish Medical Council said.

Health officials will not outline what options they are considering to allow for abortion in limited circumstances when they appear before an Oireachtas committee today.

AS 2013 progresses, a problematic side-effect of Ireland’s six-month EU presidency will become obvious.

The Government is to introduce legislation and regulation to allow for abortion in certain cases when a woman's life is at risk, including the threat of suicide.

One in 10 people in Ireland are too poor to afford a properly balanced diet, a study has shown.

The first in a series of nationwide meetings aimed at tackling suicide is to take place in Cork tonight.

On Jun 12 you published a letter from me regarding the manner in which the HSE deals with false allegations of child abuse.

I fully agree with child law expert Geoffrey Shannon who told the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children that new child protection laws need to include sanctions for people who knowingly make false reports of child abuse against individuals (Irish Examiner, Jun 8).

A senior member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has questioned whether Irish laws on smacking mean parents can be good role models for their children.

A leading US lawyer is coming to Ireland to help our medical and legal systems examine faster and cheaper ways of resolving medical negligence cases, the cost of which have almost doubled since 2009 to €81m last year.

THE Government sanctioned lottery funding yesterday clearing the way for the development of a dedicated €3 million ward at Cork University Hospital (CUH) for adults with Cystic Fibrosis (CF).

MORE people with chronic alcohol addiction are being referred to Cork-based treatment services, with experts claiming one factor could be the role of alcohol in the Roscommon abuse case.

ALLEGATIONS of garda “harassment and brutality” against young people have been made by a community organisation at an Oireachtas committee.

IRELAND is in the grip of a “heroin epidemic”, while alcohol abuse among the young is leading them towards drug use, two youth support organisations warned yesterday.

FIRST, congratulations to the Irish Examiner’s Jennifer Hough for the excellent special investigation into the topsy-turvy world of mental health treatment in Ireland.

Members of the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children will visit Ireland's first purpose-built children's hospice today.

Health Minister James Reilly and Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Frances Fitzgerald will both attend a meeting of the Oireachtas Select Committee on Health and Children today.

A CARE centre for the intellectually disabled where chronic under-funding led to human rights violations has suffered even more cutbacks since its shortcomings were highlighted.

THE Minister for Children Barry Andrews yesterday said a proposed referendum on children’s rights will not be “long-fingered”, amid accusations that the Government is seeking to redraft the agreed wording.

The Childrens Minister Barry Andrews will face questioning over child protection services later.

STORIES of families struck by suicide were brought into the public arena yesterday as politicians were urged to push for a national research programme into people taking their own lives.

UNILEVER is one of the largest companies of its kind in the world and it has a significant impact on the lives of everyone of us.

The heads of the country's two largest children's advocacy groups will outline to an Oireachtas Committee today what measures they think need to be implemented to ensure children here are protected.

AN asylum seeker centre where standards were severely criticised by Oireachtas committee members last week had recently received a ‘Q’ mark for quality from a private inspection firm.

THE state is not adequately providing for aspects of asylum seeker welfare, according to the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, whose members visited two controversial direct provision centres yesterday.

I WRITE in the earnest hope that a grave injustice in this state will soon be fully acknowledged and put right.

IT will be impossible to start the cervical cancer vaccination programme in secondary schools after Easter, as promised earlier this week by Health Minister Mary Harney, a public health doctor has claimed.

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney said the agreement reached between public sector management and unions would have an extremely positive impact on hospital services.

SHORT-TERM health spending cuts could end up costing the State more in the long-term, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has warned.