Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan has announced the allocation of €300,000 in funding to social enterprises providing employment opportunities for people with a criminal past.

Mistakes in quantifying mechanical and electrical systems are largely to blame for the escalating costs of the new National Children’s Hospital, the health committee will hear today.

A European ruling has criticised the Government for excluding soldiers, sailors, and aircrew from full engagement in national pay talks, potentially opening the way for further court action.

Despite a worldwide economic crisis, the left showed few gains in the last decade as the centre right reacted quicker to the shift in the electoral base, writes Leonid Bershidsky.

The case of one woman who was suddenly taken away from her family illustrates the harsh mood in the US — but has also galvanised resistance to deportations, writes Marcela Valdes.

Promises to increase the state pension look set to be stalled after Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar admitted a rise of €5 a week in next month’s budget would eat up all his funds.

USA: A Massachusetts newspaper publisher is asking the Rolling Stones to return to town 50 years after they cut short a show during a thunderstorm, leading fans to rampage.

One of the country’s largest trade unions has put a series of 11 questions to all of the political groups contesting this year’s election, vowing to publish the answers as soon as possible after the election is called.

Joan Burton called the Coolock pub 'irresponsible' after a picture of their 'Welfare Wednesday' promotional offer was widely shared online.

The HSE has announced plans to set up a network of “safeguarding” teams to stamp out abuse of vulnerable adults in care on a week overshadowed by allegations of such behaviour.

AN ENDLESS male parade is passing by, all of them some woman’s boyfriend, husband, brother or father. Most of the men wear dark casual clothes and very few look shabby.

The Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, says the drop in the numbers on the Live Register has prevented harsher cuts in her Department.

It’s champagne time for the country’s top chefs who made the grade in one of the most exclusive culinary and hospitality clubs in the land — the 100 Best Restaurants and 100 Best Places to Stay in Ireland.

Authorities and celebrities were grappling today with how to respond to a website that posted what appears to be private financial information about top US government figures and stars such as Jay-Z and Mel Gibson.

Entrepreneur Jay Bourke said yesterday that he is very happy with the performance of his restaurant the Market Bar, with figures showing that the business increased pre-tax profits by 28% to €401,018 in 2011.

Nearly 8% of those working in Ireland are part of the “working poor” and are at risk of poverty, according to a leading anti-poverty organisation.

MINISTERS denied there was a split in the Government over the need for a second bailout as Joan Burton insisted she had not gone “rogue” on the issue.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has insisted that any cuts in the looming Budget will be imposed to safeguard jobs.

SOCIAL Protection Minister Joan Burton believes more than €50 million can be saved by cutting the share of redundancy payments picked up by the state.

SOCIAL Protection Minister Joan Burton says she will do her best to ensure that the burden of resolving the financial crisis does not fall disproportionately on those in the lowest part of the economic spectrum.

MINISTERS have denied an initiative to create 5,000 internships is a gimmick — despite admitting they have no idea how many real jobs the scheme may lead to.

THREE-QUARTERS of Irish workers are worried about not having enough money to retire on, research shows.

Projects to tackle division in Northern Ireland and across the border have been handed more than £8m in funding.

AVONDHU Blackwater Partnership community information evenings continue throughout October, providing information on the programmes the organisation delivers, and on the new rules, regulations and guidelines in the 2007-2013 Rural Development Programme.

SOCIAL Protection Minister Éamon Ó Cuív has agreed to review all applications for emergency funding from flood victims who believe they have been short-changed by the Government scheme.

SOCIAL Protection Minister Éamon O Cuív has said no plans are in place for means-testing the Contributory State Pension.

EIGHT out of 10 landlords of private rented property are refusing to pass on details of their PPS (Personal Public Service) number to the Department of Social and Family Affairs.

THE Minister for Social Protection yesterday ruled out reviewing the four-year lead-in time for a new retirement age of 66.

Access to transport, particularly in rural areas, is a huge problem for many people around the country according to a new report today.

AN INITIATIVE to speed up welfare claims by allowing newly unemployed people certify their own means is being examined.

SOCIAL and Family Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin recently confirmed that children’s allowance/child benefit will be affected by budget cuts, something Finance Minister Brian Lenihan first suggested in the last budget.

A GOVERNMENT crackdown on welfare fraud has yielded more than €228 million in savings so far this year and has prompted a major surge in the number of reports of suspected fraud by members of the public.

The EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities was visiting Limerick today for meetings with local community representatives involved in the Moyross Regeneration project and with workers made redundant from the Dell plant.

ONE in every five people are in such a personal economic crisis that they cannot meet their own debt repayment responsibilities, meaning they are at risk of falling prey to loan sharks due to their perilous financial position.

A member of a US religious sect was today fined for leaving another member’s corpse in her bathroom so the group could collect her government pension.

THE only “agent of change” Princess ever supported was the person who changed the water in her fishbowl.

Croatia’s ruling conservatives and opposition centre-left Social were virtually tied in parliamentary elections today, leaving the make up of the future government unclear, exit polls and preliminary results showed.

HISTORY repeated itself again last week with the Supreme Court ruling on statutory child rape. Significant childcare law and policy developments in Ireland have resulted primarily from external criticism from the UN and within from child abuse inquiries.

German authorities have confirmed the country’s first case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in domestic poultry, the Social Affairs Ministry of the state of Saxony said today.

SOCIAL and Family Affairs Minister Seamus Brennan yesterday revealed plans to relax the qualifying rules for back to education allowances for the long-term unemployed.

The first ever President's Awards, to recognise outstanding commitment and long time service to the GAA, will be presented at a black-tie function in Croke Park on Friday, June 4.