The proposal was always going to be crazy but what makes it insulting is its timing, writes Victoria White.

A bottom-up approach is needed in addition to senior academic posts open only to female applicants to redress gender imbalance in the third-level sector, various stakeholders have said.

A Government decision on how to boost funding for third level is unlikely for at least another year as an economic analysis of options put forward two years ago will not now begin until 2019.

Students and staff are to be asked about the standard and level of mental health supports in colleges to help inform possible improvements.

It seems the government has scrapped plans for a student loan scheme.

Colleges that cater for more part-time and online learners have been rewarded with a greater share of a €2m fund in support of lifelong learning.

More women taking on doctoral studies and a continuing influx of highly-qualified foreign workers are major factors in a rapid growth in PhDs in Ireland, writes Education Correspondent Niall Murray.

Colleges are to be given deadlines to improve recruitment and promotion practices that do not support gender equality.

No prior warning was given to the Government by UCC and Cork Institute of Technology about their decision to withdraw funding and staffing from an award-winning start-up business hub in which the Naval Service was a joint partner.

The country’s third-level colleges are due to receive a significant overhaul thanks to more than €250m extra being allocated under the Government’s revised capital spending plans.

A fully taxpayer-funded third-level system should be urgently decided on by the Government, thousands of students insisted at a national protest.

Plans to increase the movement of academics, students and innovation between Ireland and other countries are being boosted this week.

Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty and Mary Mitchell O’Connor are facing a major backlash from colleagues at a meeting of the party’s ministers tomorrow.

WHEN junior education minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor challenged government pay policy, she showed that cabinet, just like any group, can hold different views.

Junior education minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor is under fire from some of her ministerial colleagues, who have described her comments on teachers’ pay as “deeply unhelpful”.

Junior education minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor is under fire from some of her ministerial colleagues, who have described her comments on teachers’ pay as “deeply unhelpful”.

Suddenly the Fine Gael-led Government has been handed a burning political hot potato as the summer draws to a close and schools due to reopen.

Teacher unions have welcomed the highlighting of unequal pay by Mary Mitchell O’Connor, even if her view is not supported by others at Cabinet.

Junior ministers have backed calls by Higher Education Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor for equal pay for teachers.

It is hard to think that anyone would oppose the simple, equal-pay-for-equal-work principle. It is a watertight expression of the values around fairness that inform our world. 

Simon Coveney, the former housing minister, has insisted caps on rent increases have worked despite anger over figures which show rates are still rising sharply.

Only two asylum seekers qualified last year for third-level grant support under a Government scheme designed to assist young people in the protection system.

More college students are choosing Ireland as a study destination because of Brexit.

Super junior minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor has refused to say if she is still seeking a €16,288 salary top-up linked to the role despite the fact that the payment would need new legislation to be passed by the Dáil.

Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy will make a formal complaint today alleging Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and four Fine Gael TDs “defamed” him during Wednesday’s divisive Dáil Jobstown row.

Employers are to be given a greater say in the use of the National Training Fund (NTF) which the Government wants them to contribute more to, Education Minister Richard Bruton will announce today.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has no plans to meet with TDs who have openly criticised his failure to promote a number of women to senior positions, despite three colleagues lashing out at his decision in recent days.

Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty may be forced to pay back an allowance she received as Government chief whip as doubts remain over whether she was ever entitled to it.

By failing to sack anyone in his first reshuffle, Leo Varadkar has opened himself up to accusations that he is not willing to make the tough calls and be ruthless when required, writes Daniel McConnell.

Mary Mitchell O’Connor admits she is disappointed at being demoted by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Elaine Loughlin looks at those who will be disappointed with new Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s picks.

Fianna Fáil says that, in spite of the Government’s claim of a “jobs bonanza”, more and more people are having to seek a living in low-paid employment.

Public debt is still a major challenge and will remain so into the future, Government has warned.

The Government has issued a strong denial to Sinn Féin claims that funding increase requests from the State’s corporate enforcer were turned down.

Outraged TDs are demanding a review of agencies investigating criminality and have called for the setting up of a white-collar crime bureau.

Workers’ lives are being put at risk by a 32% reduction in health and safety inspections of workplaces, Fianna Fáil has warned.

Upwards of 500 people are to lose their jobs at the Hewlett Packard (HP) global print plant in Leixlip, Co Kildare, within the next 12 months.

Ticket sales should be limited for individuals and identity checks made in order to clamp down on ticket touting, TDs have said.

Enda Kenny is facing a growing backlash over claims he has “no plan” to cope with the escalating Brexit crisis and has “sat on his hands” as the situation unfolded.

The Government may make millions of euro worth of special state aid available for firms at risk of a Brexit backlash due to growing concerns of the damage that could be caused to the economy.

Just over half of all jobs created in Ireland by foreign direct investment (FDI) last year were in locations outside of Dublin.

More than 2m people are in employment, the most working in the country since 2008, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.