No excuse for slapping a child will be accepted by the courts henceforth. The law has been changed to clarify a grey area that persisted for 155 years around physical punishment by parents and minders.

Doctors have rejected a motion to support legislation for abortion where there is a “real and substantial risk’’ to the life of the mother, in line with the X case.

A LETTER sent to Dublin GPs by a staff member at Beaumont Hospital A&E department, requesting help in fundraising for an ultrasound machine was written by a member of nursing staff without authorisation from the hospital, management claimed last night.

PEOPLE cannot know that the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) is providing value for money because it refuses to publish prices paid for treatments, according to a concerned GP.