The money that could be raised for further and higher education from a proposed hike in employers’ contributions is €30m less than what two Government ministers have suggested.

The names of almost 800 children who died in two of the country’s largest mother and baby homes were given to the HSE by a religious order in 2011.

The Government is facing an additional bill of €250m should nurses and other medical staff be granted controversial additional payments awarded to gardaí by the Labour Court.

Fianna Fáil has said that the current industrial relations unrest in the public sector could have been avoided if the Government took action.

The Government is on a direct collision course with Europe over demands to allow Ireland maintain special trading links with Britain in the wake of Brexit.

One of the country’s largest public sector unions has warned that the complete repeal of the legislation which cut the pay and pensions of State employees during the recession would see high earners gain substantially more than their lower-paid colleagues.

The Coalition ‘rent certainty’ row shows no signs of calming after Fine Gael figures said Taoiseach Enda Kenny is not planning a meeting with Environment Minister Alan Kelly to negotiate a truce and dismissed any cap on prices out of hand.

A fresh allocation of €25m for accommodating refugees fleeing countries such as Syria was welcomed yesterday, amid claims people already in the asylum system had been forgotten.

Irish Water needs to be abolished and have its responsibilities given back to local councils in order to save the taxpayer money, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has insisted.

Two thirds of retired public service workers who saw their pensions slashed during the economic crash are set to benefit from increases of up to €1,680 over the next three years, in sharp contrast to their private sector colleagues.

Trade unions have been warned by the Government that it could act unilaterally and formulate its own method of pay restoration to public servants if agreement cannot be reached through negotiation.

The Fine Gael-Labour coalition and Fianna Fáil have begun an open war for rural votes in the next general election, after launching separate policy documents promising a series of long-delayed measures within hours of each other.

A senior Government minister has claimed the expected €600m cost to run Irish Water every year will not lead to a hike in charges after 2018 because the economic upturn will ensure that more businesses will open to pay the bill.

A detailed Government review of the Fair Deal scheme will not increase costs for vulnerable elderly people or end the universal legal right to access the service when it is given to the Department of Health next week.

Average annual earnings have fallen by almost €700 in only the last three months in spite of people working longer hours.

Hospitals will be able to effectively side-step the controversial recruitment ban from next year — but may resort to using low-paid graduates to fill some chronic staffing gaps as part of the plan.

Health Minister Leo Varadkar has been urged to ensure health service cutbacks are halted, after a leading doctors’ group warned the "alarming" funding drain is putting patients’ lives at risk.

The cost of paying pensions to former ministers has fallen by almost €700,000 to just over €3.7m over the past three years.

From Wednesday, public servants will see their sick pay cut significantly thanks to an almost two-year-old Labour Court ruling.

A crucial element of leadership is good example. Both parties in the current Coalition promised not only higher standards, but also transparency and openness.

Almost 16,000 secondary teachers will no longer be paid for supervision and substitution work if their union again rejects the Haddington Road Agreement, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has warned.

PUBLIC Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin has made a last ditch attempt to thwart transparency with a cynical amendment he has looked to slip into the new Freedom of Information bill.

As budget speeches go, it was a workaday effort from Finance Minister Michael Noonan to a nation jaded by austerity.

Details of the leaked transcript conversation between two officials of the Anglo Irish Bank — John Bowe, director of capital markets, and Peter Fitzgerald, director of retail banking — make for distressing reading.

The Justice Minister Alan Shatter is renewing his promise to resume garda recruitment, but he admits there is no timeframe for the process.

Teacher unions and others that remain opposed to €300m public sector pay cut proposals will be subjected to laws cutting higher salaries and other work changes, Enda Kenny said yesterday.

The Government has said it is prepared to reach agreement with individual trade unions, if there is no collective deal on Croke Park 2.

The Public Expenditure and Reform Minister is warning that time is running out on reaching an agreement to resume the public-sector pay talks.

Good news is rare these days — so rare that when it comes around, it deserves to be celebrated.

Any likely parliamentary inquiry into the banking crisis will not have the power to investigate past governments where the reputation of former office holders could be directly adversely affected, according to a confidential briefing for TDs.

A new raft of public service redundancies with a target of 2,500 “surplus” people will be largely focused on reducing excess numbers working in health service administration.

Embattled Health Minister James Reilly received a fresh blow to his credibility last night as it emerged his department will need emergency intervention to tackle chronic overspending.

Public service employees’ incremental pay rises could be under attack as part of the Government’s plan to take €3.8bn out of the country’s pay bill next year.

The Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin has said the Government wants significant additional public sector pay savings.

The government’s spending watchdog is to scrutinise public-sector allowances in the wake of a review which only succeeded in abolishing one.

Enda Kenny last night refused to offer hope to urban dwellers who fear they will be penalised under the looming property tax compared with people in rural areas.

Mileage rates for ministers will be cut by 10% to take into account any travel for personal reasons.

The Government is expected to announce a €2bn stimulus package this week.

Enda Kenny ruled out postponing the EU treaty referendum because of a need to have an early vote and signal Ireland’s potential to foreign investors.

The country’s top white-collar crime watchdog who announced his retirement today has been forced to make a dramatic u-turn under intense pressure from the Cabinet.

MORE than 30,000 teachers will receive pay increases worth almost €22 million next year, while students and their families suffer another round of cutbacks.