Solidarity-People Before Profit look set to have a disappointing election and possibly only return two or three of its five outgoing TDs.

The equivalent of a ship’s crew has left the naval service since it was forced to tie up two vessels due to manpower shortages.

The Meath West TD left the party in 2018 following a row over the abortion referendum.

There was a shocked reaction in the political world during the week when details of a protection racket emerged in court.

Sinn Féin TD, Aengus Ó Snodaigh, said clarity on the issues is necessary as he hit out at the Government's "limited" response to what has happened to date.

The Government has launched an independent investigation into revelations that Dublin City Council officials advised firms to pay over €500,000 in protection money to two criminals, amid growing questions over who knew about the scandal.

Dublin City Council has refused to clarify if its chief executive Owen Keegan or senior management knew that protection money was paid to criminals under the guise of ‘security’ at a housing development.

Former Minister for Justice Senator Michael McDowell has called on the Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy to investigate any role played by his department in the payment of “protection money” on social housing building sites.

Demands have been made to clarify who knew what, and when, as concerns were raised over a potential unofficial policy to pay off criminals to ensure housing construction sites were not attacked.

Junior minister for drugs Catherine Byrne admitted the situation as Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy insisted he knew nothing of the situation until media reports this morning.

New figures highlight the stark reality of the Defence Forces desperately trying to keep operating with a dearth of personnel across all ranks.

Joe Murphy was one of three IRA Volunteers who died on hunger strike in jails in 1920.

Transport Minister Shane Ross landed himself in hot water after he likened a Sinn Fein TD to a donkey, during heated exchanges in the Dail.

Renegade pro-life Sinn Féin TDs Carol Nolan and Peadar Tóibín are facing mounting pressure to decide if they will remain as party members or quit after colleagues voted to further liberalise Sinn Féin’s abortion policy.

Seriously ill former members of the Air Corps are facing potentially “catastrophic” consequences for their health as a result of the State’s efforts to fight them ‘tooth and nail’ over the release of information that could aid their treatment, the Dáil heard yesterday.

The Department of Defence has not sought any further information from whistleblowers, on allegations that key Defence Forces documents were destroyed, a junior Minister has confirmed.

A whistleblower’s warning that documents revealing unacceptable levels of chemical exposure in the Air Corps were deliberately destroyed was sent to the Department of Defence over a year before it looked for the documents — and discovered they are missing.

Garda districts at the coalface of tackling gangs affiliated to the Kinahan cartel have seen a drop of almost 30% in staffing.

Labour leader Brendan Howlin is not satisfied with the Government’s response to the Air Corps chemical exposure scandal, and has called for an external review of the allegations.

The State is facing a further High Court action from a former member of the Defence Forces allegedly suffering chronic ill-health due to exposure to chemicals in the Air Corps.

The Government is facing calls to establish a Commission of Investigation into whistleblower claims against the Air Corps, after the terms of an independent report into the allegations were branded ‘farcical’ by Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin.

An Air Corps official has denied whistleblowers’ allegations that he destroyed documents central to a legal action against the State.

An Air Corps official has rejected claims that inspection reports at the centre of legal cases against the State were deliberately destroyed, describing the allegations as malicious, writes Joe Leogue.

An Air Corps official has rejected claims that inspection reports at the centre of legal cases against the State were deliberately destroyed, describing the allegations as malicious.

PDForra, the organisation representing enlisted Defence Forces members, says it will assist the Air Corps whistleblower facing dismissal next month.

The Government is coming under increased pressure to launch an investigation into missing Defence Forces inspection reports which were allegedly destroyed.

A Defence Forces whistleblower has alleged that a named official ordered the shredding of documents that are now central to a legal case against the State.

A request under the Freedom of Information Act has been lodged with the Department of Defence in an attempt to establish why a Naval Service ship was delayed by more than three weeks from leaving her base to save migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Defence Forces still has the invoice it received for a health inspection carried out on the Air Corps in 1997 — but not the report outlining the findings of the probe.

The Government says the Defence Forces have no intention of investigating how health and safety reports at the centre of an alleged ‘cover up’ within the Air Corps have gone missing.

Cross-party demands have been made for an independent investigation into how the Air Corps has managed staff exposure to harmful chemicals.

Health and safety issues in the Air Corps have not gone away. Why is an investigation not underway, Joe Leogue wants to know

Fianna Fáil has called on the Government to establish healthcare screening for members of the Defence Forces, as well as a health package for those who have suffered illnesses as a result of their exposures while working for the State.

Junior Defence Minister Paul Kehoe has met an Air Corps whistleblower and saw copies of inspection reports that have raised concerns about conditions in Casement Aerodrome dating back to the 1990s.

Allegations of phone-tapping for political reasons relate back to the early 2000s and are “not relevant to the current period” Enda kenny has told the Dáil.

The Department of Defence said it cannot locate copies of technical reports from the 1990s which raise concerns about health and safety conditions at the Air Corps headquarters in Casement Aerodrome.

Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan’s failure to inform the Tánaiste of the Templemore College fiasco for 16 months has been described as a “significant oversight” by a Cabinet minister.

Junior defence minister Paul Kehoe has defended the Government’s decision to investigate whistleblower allegations against the Air Corps’ management of staff exposure to harmful chemicals.

A whistleblower has criticised the Government’s handling of allegations of health and safety management in the Air Corps, claiming that staff exposure to toxic chemicals has caused the deaths and chronic illnesses suffered by members and their families.

The Air Corps is almost 25% below its recommend strength with more than 200 vacancies across all ranks.

The Government says it has no plans to establish a review to determine if the chronic illnesses suffered by former Air Corps staff were as a result of exposure to chemicals while working at Casement Aerodrome.

Concerns have been raised about the scope of the ongoing review of allegations made by Air Corps whistleblowers. They claimed that staff were unnecessarily exposed to cancer-causing chemicals.