A Government minister has insisted new laws to curb the threat of social media to criminal cases are immediately introduced in the wake of the Belfast rape trial.

A pipeline drawing water from the Shannon is the only solution to the threat of drought and taps running dry in the east of Ireland, the head of Irish Water has warned.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is facing fresh pressure to endorse the wide-scale liberalisation of Ireland’s abortion laws after politicians made clear-cut calls to repeal the Eighth Amendment, allow abortion up to 12 weeks pregnancy and to decriminalise the act.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil members of the Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment will block any further motions on the amendment if they are put down before the cross-party group completes its work.

The cross-party committee examining Ireland's abortion laws is set for a divisive meeting this afternoon after Fianna Fáil was accused by Ruth Coppinger of being "dinosaurs" for attempting to block an early repeal vote on the issue.

The cross-party Oireachtas committee examining the abortion laws is split over calls for it to issue an early formal show of support this week for repealing the Eighth Amendment.

Fine Gael concerns that the abortion referendum could ultimately tear the Government apart have been underlined after a party TD accused one of her colleagues of “lies” and producing “fake” facts on the issue.

The Government has launched a second investigation into serious fire safety concerns in Celtic Tiger-era schools amid growing fears that the scale of the crisis has been deliberately “suppressed”.

Latest: The Dáil's disciplinary committee is to seek legal advice on whether Solidarity TD Paul Murphy abused Dail privilege today.

A Cork mother’s campaign to ensure her child is given access to cannabis-based medication to ease her daily suffering has forced her to camp outside the Dáil in a bid to force through the legal change.