THE country’s largest private health insurer has confirmed the 10% budget hike in the cost of private beds in public hospitals is likely to be passed on to the consumer.

The Dáil's four Independent deputies were today called on to back a motion of no confidence in Minister for Health Mary Harney.

PROCEEDS from the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) which have been linked to drugs should be used to fund drug treatment programmes, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has urged.

THE crisis in the health service deepened last night with revelations that more than 41,000 patients are on waiting lists at a time when health service employers have banned staff recruitment.

OUR health system is “painfully slow” and less efficient than the former health boards, according to the incoming president of the Irish Medical Organisation.

RATES of TB increased significantly in Cork last year, showing the highest number of reported cases for a decade.

DOCTORS are worried over the delay in establishing a fully operational independent nursing home inspectorate.

HEALTH checks on thousands of primary school children have been dramatically scaled back because of a shortage of funding.

THOUSANDS of babies are missing out on vital developmental checks, normally conducted at nine months, because of a shortage of public health doctors, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has claimed.

The Irish Medical Organisation has accused the Government of putting the health of tens of thousands of children at risk.