The au pair awarded €9,000 against the couple she worked for in a landmark ruling by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is set to take a case against her subsequent host family.

Au pair agencies have called for the separate regulation of the au pair system in the wake of the employment court ruling that host families must comply with the law on minimum wage, holidays, and all other employment protections.

Thousands of families are facing a childcare crisis after being warned they must formally register with Revenue as employers and pay full wages if they take an au pair into their home.

A GENETIC test for a blood disorder has been developed by a Cork hospital that will save the taxpayer millions of euro in the long-term.