The agency responsible for protecting consumers’ interests has no immediate plans to investigate the spiralling cost of motor insurance which has seen premiums surge more than 60% in the past two years.

The Food Safety Authority said there was no justification for businesses to be in breach of the food safety legislation, after 11 enforcement orders were served last month on hotels, restaurants, takeaway and wholesale providers.

The presenter has recalled the dramatic accident last year that saw her eight-year-old daughter, Matilda, suffer serious burns when her witch costume brushed against a candle at a house in London.

Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has said he is “horrified” that it sounded as though he used racist language while filming an episode and was “begging your forgiveness” for the fact it appeared he did.

The Garda Ombudsman Commission has called for an overhaul of how it is allowed to operate as a wide-ranging probe into the penalty points controversy is promised.

A children’s residential unit run by the HSE in the Munster area has been criticised over the practices used to manage challenging behaviour of young people in its care.

Medics treating Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar, who died after being refused a termination as she miscarried, failed to give her the most basic care, a damning review of her case has found.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has challenged Italy’s attempts to ban a genetically modified maize product from biotech group Monsanto.

A father of three who sexually assaulted a girl after grooming her and later sent her explicit messages on Facebook has been given a four-month jail sentence.

Bank of Ireland was guilty of a litany of mistakes in its dealings with Dungarvan businessman David Walsh.

The Financial Services Ombudsman has received very few complaints about the three weeks of interruptions experienced by Ulster Bank customers.

Britain’s data protection watchdog will press for “limitations and safeguards” to protect citizens’ privacy from government proposals to monitor all calls, emails, texts and website visits.

THE Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) yesterday gave the all-clear for the opening of a new €16.4 million community hospital in Dingle, Co Kerry.

MORE THAN half of concerns raised about older people in nursing homes last year were considered serious by the state’s watchdog on health and social services, it has emerged.

FACEBOOK has not passed a single complaint about suspected paedophiles grooming vulnerable child users to police in Britain, it was claimed yesterday.

VISITING the doctor could cost less now the Competition Authority has persuaded the Medical Council to lift restrictions on advertising by GPs.

Sick leave in the civil service costs the country as much as €128m a year, an official report revealed today.

The British broadcasting watchdog today rejected nearly 5,000 complaints about alleged bullying and voting problems on the last series of 'Big Brother'.

CONCERNS were raised again yesterday regarding government appointments to powerful public bodies.

THE Financial Ombudsman’s report into rogue companies has been dismissed as vague and woolly for not naming and shaming the offending institutions.

The State’s poverty watchdog today launched a three-pronged approach to tackle social deprivation during worsening economic times.

CONSUMER champions last night claimed airlines could be breaking the law by billing passengers automatically for travel insurance as they book flights.

A PROMINENT US- based human rights group has called for Kenya to lift a ban on opposition rallies, as the nation braced for three days of protests over disputed elections.

The Comptroller and Auditor General has reportedly highlighted major shortfalls with the Government's ambitious plan to make public services available online.

EUROPE’S main elections watchdog yesterday called off its observer mission to Russia’s forthcoming parliamentary polls citing a lack of co-operation, but Moscow shrugged off the charge.

A recently-formed hardline republican terror group in the North is becoming more dangerously active, security chiefs in were warned today.

BRITAIN’S fertility watchdog has approved the extension of embryo gene screening.

HOUSEHOLDERS are to get a helping hand to guide them through the maze of different companies offering home phone services and broadband.

GLANBIA’S proposed deal to buy CMP liquid milk, cream and juice business from Dairygold Co-Op has ben cleared by the Competition Authority.

Army chiefs were wrong to allow two soldiers convicted of murdering a Belfast teenager back into the ranks, an independent watchdog said today.