Social Protection Minister Joan Burton was forced to clarify comments after incorrectly suggesting the household charge could be paid in post offices.

NEW restrictions on drainage of wetlands will have only limited impact on farmers, according to Junior Environment Minister Willie Penrose.

A SEPARATE environmental impact assessment screening and consent system is being devised by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for on-farm development works that fall outside the planning system — such as removal of hedgerows, combining of fields, ploughing of semi-natural areas, seeding and fertilising and the maintenance of field drainage.

RESCUERS who saved the lives of 11 people from near-drowning incidents were among those honoured at the annual awards ceremony of Irish Water Safety in Dublin yesterday.

THE Dublin seaside town of Howth is celebrating being named as the cleanest place in Ireland.

THE heroes of 14 dramatic water rescues have been honoured at the Irish Water Safety national awards.

A 10-year-old girl who saved her four-year-old brother from drowning today insisted she would do it again in a heartbeat.

IRELAND has the world’s sixth-highest rate of the cancer-causing radon gas according to figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

REVISED proposals to expand the Kenmare river Special Area of Conservation (SAC), from 32,000 to about 42,000 hectares, will shortly be published by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

IN WHAT would herald a sea change in attitudes to planning, Junior Environment Minister Batt O’Keeffe has pledged the days of upside-down development are over and roads and schools will now be developed in tandem with residential housing.

The Government today urged extreme caution to beach-goers and holidaymakers this bank holiday weekend as new figures show 131 people drowned in Ireland’s waterways last year.

THE Government has turned down a request for land for a graveyard in a specified area of Killarney National Park, it was confirmed yesterday.

A RATTLED Taoiseach opened the door yesterday for negotiations on the controversial €100 million Cork Airport debt issue.

A SIGNIFICANT slice of Ireland’s €2 billion EU rural development fund should be ring-fenced to upgrade broadband in rural areas, an MEP said last night.

WESTPORT yesterday bridged a five-year gap to take the title as Ireland’s tidiest town for 2006.

THE Government was warned six years ago that its failure to tackle the annual toll of more than 400 fatalities on Irish roads was in danger of becoming a national scandal.

A DECISION is expected shortly by Environment Minister Dick Roche on whether to allow a burial ground in Killarney National Park.

PEOPLE living around Cork Harbour dismissed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reassurances yesterday following a report which showed a doubling in levels of dioxins in their neighbourhood.

A GOVERNMENT pledge to provide public forums for local representatives to raise concerns about the health service has not been fulfilled a year after it was made.

ENNIS, Co Clare, has emerged as the winner of the 2005 Tidy Towns competition - just two weeks after it was branded one of the State’s dirtiest places in an environmental study.

The Government has approved plans drawn up by all of Ireland's local authorities for the development of social and affordable housing over the next five years.

COMPLEX negotiations on the stalled contract to build the €60 million Cork School of Music could be completed within eight weeks.

Sean McCarthaigh, Cavan

THE problems in the peace process cannot be reduced simply to the existence of the IRA, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said yesterday.

DEFENCE Minister Willie O’Dea called on all Irish people yesterday to boycott the 100 Sinn Féin commemorations of the Easter Rising being held this weekend because they are organised by “criminals”.

OBJECTORS to the proposed €93 million toxic waste incinerator in Cork yesterday hit out at two local ministers for their failure to support the latest bid to stop it going ahead.

A GOVERNMENT clampdown on illegal dumpers will ensure that offenders no longer escape the maximum district court fine of half a million euro.

The Junior Environment Minister has called for a fully thought-out programme on tackling illegal waste activities.

THE Irish Red Cross appealed to flood victims yesterday to send application forms for humanitarian aid as quickly as possible after it emerged that only 220 have applied so far.

THE company planning to build the country’s first toxic waste incinerator at Ringaskiddy in Co Cork yesterday said Defence Minister Willie O’Dea should leave the matter to the State and judicial agencies responsible for it.

TWO Government ministers conceded yesterday that the proposed site for the State’s first €93m toxic waste incinerator at Ringaskiddy in County Cork was “inappropriate.”

THE Cabinet will decide tomorrow on a humanitarian aid package for flood victims.

THE Government has paid out more than €2 million in PR and advertising fees for electronic voting since the rollout of the system was abandoned.

Power in councillors’ hands: Ahern

THE Government’s high-profile campaign to introduce its new electronic voting system suffered several setbacks yesterday after a day of concerted attack from the opposition.

THE small Roscommon village of Keadue has been named as the 2003 winner of the annual Tidy Towns competition.

THE lending policies of banks and building societies are driving up the cost of housing, Junior Environment Minister Noel Ahern said yesterday.

AN embarrassed Department of the Environment has launched a major investigation into the illegal dumping of waste by the State heritage service Dúchas on a scenic game reserve.

Investigations are underway today after it emerged Dúchas, the national heritage service, dumped waste at an illegal landfill site.

HOUSEHOLDERS will pay up to €200 extra for refuse collection next year, according to a Fine Gael survey.

THE picturesque Co Laois village of Castletown has been declared Ireland’s Tidiest Town for 2002.

Junior Environment Minister Bobby Molloy has apologised for contact made on his behalf to a High Court judge presiding over a rape case.