The body tasked with handling asylum appeals from refugees says it requires a substantial increase in staff levels to process a backlog of applications.

Health Minister Simon Harris has refused to be drawn on who he is backing to replace Enda Kenny as Taoiseach, despite reports he has attended closed-doors meetings of Housing Minister Simon Coveney’s campaign team.

The Department of Jobs is set to spend more than €3m to hire at least 50 extra staff to help State agencies cope with the escalating Brexit crisis.

The Government has rejected claims the imminent root and branch review of An Garda Síochána will fail to have full access to all files because it is likely to be non-statutory in nature.

Rather than any new structure, it would make more sense for existing bodies to conduct the latest policing review, says Cormac O’Keeffe

Latest: The injuries suffered by an Irish person in the Westminster terror attack are not life threatening, the Government has been told.

Identifying the remains of young children at the Tuam Mother and Baby Home would be technically very difficult and the prospect of establishing causes of death highly unlikely, according to forensic and Garda sources.

Latest: Human trafficking has a big impact on Ireland and other EU countries, according to the Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.

Michael D Higgins has led tributes to Dermot Gallagher, a former Irish ambassador to the US and general secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, who died yesterday.

The Garda Ombudsman has overcome legal obstacles preventing it from investigating alleged attempts to discredit whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe.

A major business organisation and the country’s largest Garda representative body have both expressed concern about the lack of progress in replacing a Garda station which has been described as “a deathtrap”.

An independent report recommending whether to scrap or continue controversial water charges is set to be given to the Government by the end of the month — sparking a fresh crisis for the coalition.

A Garda watchdog investigation into the treatment of whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe has been stopped in its tracks because of a legal roadblock.

Ireland still has one of the worst records in the world for combating cross-border corruption — with little or no effort being made to prosecute Irish businesses for bribing officials abroad.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) says its open to further discussions with the Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.

Ireland has taken in just 550 people caught up in the ongoing migrant crisis despite vowing to offer a home to 4,000 by next year.

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

More asylum seekers have been deported from Ireland in the first half of this year than the total number deported in 2015, new figures reveal.

A defiant Françoise Hollande has called on French citizens and Europe to stand together in the wake of terrorist attacks to protect freedom, as he thanked Ireland for its solidarity, writes Juno McEnroe. 

The man responsible for the Nice terror attack is “probably linked to radical Islam” as France mourns the third massacre of its civilians in 18 months.

President Michael D Higgins has led political expressions of shock and sympathy in Ireland following the terror attack in Nice.

Fine Gael members turned on each other last night as deputy leader James Reilly accused rebel TDs of using him as a “punchbag” and “proxy” in order to get to Enda Kenny.

Ireland has contingency plans to protect the economy if the outcome of the Brexit referendum result is Britain leaving the EU.

The Garda Ombudsman is to investigate claims two senior officers misrepresented a 2008 meeting with whistle-blower Maurice McCabe to the O’Higgins commission by alleging he was motivated by malice.

Gardaí can see “no immediate end” to the killing spree by the Kinahan crime cartel, which yesterday carried out its sixth murder, all aimed at the rival Hutch gang.

The Garda Commissioner is expected to issue a statement as early as today in a bid to quell controversy over her directions to lawyers over Sergeant Maurice McCabe at the O’Higgins inquiry.

Senior Fine Gael figures faced accusations of the party being “disconnected” from local councillors and were forced to defend the ‘supply and confidence’ government deal made with Fianna Fáil.

The scale of the homelessness crisis is being underestimated because official figures do not include women and children living in refuges, a national domestic violence charity has warned.

The Irish Government has agreed that advanced passenger data for people travelling from Ireland will be given to the UK.

A Frenchman has been arrested in the “advanced stages” of a plot to attack the country.

The new armed response unit for Dublin, announced as part of a government package to fight gangland feuding, is not expected to be up and running for at least five to six months.

Six days before the horrific attack at the Regency Hotel, it was reported that senior criminals had flown to Dublin to attend boxing events.

All patrol cars are to carry crime prevention kits, including digital cameras, to help gardaí gather evidence in domestic violence callouts.

A new burglary law targeting repeat offenders will help reduce crime levels across the country, according to Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.

Overall manpower reduced by 30% in four years even as the drugs trade grows in size and profitability

Recorded reoffending rates among burglars released from prison have jumped, despite an overall reduction in criminals reoffending.

A referendum to liberalise Ireland’s abortion laws is now all but certain to take place, irrespective of who wins the general election, as a citizen’s convention for next year has been promised.