At least 127 children have been identified as requiring “urgent attention” following an emergency review by the Child and Family Agency of case files recently discovered in Laois and Offaly.

A social worker in the midlands employed by the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, has been put on administrative leave in the fallout from the “discovery” of hundreds of “unidentified” child protection files in the Laois/Offaly area.

More than 100 driver-testers are to stage a half-day strike next week forcing the rescheduling of 300 tests.

HEALTH trade union IMPACT has claimed a series of ward closures in Galway over the summer will have a devastating effect on patients and communities in the region.

HEALTH service bosses are facing the prospect of having to staff hundreds of agency workers after the Labour Court ruled their employment on a continuous temporary basis was in breach of national agreements.