Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has rejected claims Budget 2020 was an “austerity budget,” insisting spending will increase by €3.4bn.

A total of 23 pregnant women have been in custody in the country’s two female prisons so far this year, new figures have revealed.

Only 6% of children suspected of suffering some form of disability are having their health and education needs assessed within the statutory deadline of six months.

The appeals board approved the apartment plan in spite of the strong recommendation by its own inspector to refuse planning.

Kildare had the highest rate of conviction, where 85% of motorists before the courts were successfully prosecuted, compared to the lowest in Co Waterford (44%).

The smart phones are described as 'mobile data stations', and provide gardaí on the roadside immediate and secure access to the same information as they would have in a garda station.

A study to quantify the climate mitigation and adaptation potential of hedgrows is to be commissioned by the Government in 2021.

Irish Water has said it hopes to have a new wastewater treatment facility in Clonshaugh up and running by 2026.

Gardaí used pepper sprays almost 690 times in 2018, official figures reveal.

Stephen Cadogan The Department of Agriculture’s quality service unit received 30 customer service complaints in 2018.

Some friends lost a cherished family dog recently. She was enormously loved, but, at 10 years of age, had been ill for a while. In the space of a few weeks, she went downhill.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said Budget 2019 is “a responsible budget for a modern and caring Ireland that aims to be at the centre of a changing world”.

The revelation that just over 2,300 gardaí have been trained to drive with sirens and flashing blue lights in the past six years has been described as “shocking” and a “disservice to the general public”.

The Government has been warned it will be “held to account” for the ongoing homeless crisis after new figures showed a sharp rise in the number of homeless children and elderly people.

More than half of all front-line gardaí are not qualified to drive with flashing blue lights and cannot respond to emergency call-outs.

Families of the Stardust fire victims have renewed their call for a fresh inquiry as independent TDs prepare to bring a motion before the Dáil backing their campaign.

2,700 cyclists attended hospital with injuries received in road accidents in Ireland in 2015 and 2016. That’s nearly four a day, according to figures released by the HSE.

The surge in demand for Irish passports from people living in the North and Britain as a result of Brexit has continued in 2017.

The court poor box has been used more than 1,300 times in the last three years in spite of the Government saying in 2014 that it was to be scrapped and replaced with a fund to help victims of crime.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has said home-owners who foot the bill to make their homes fire safe could get tax breaks.

The same cladding used in the multi-fatality Grenfell tower block in London was installed at County Hall, the headquarters of Cork County Council, writes Sean O’Riordan.

The same cladding used in the multi-fatality Grenfell tower block in London was installed at County Hall, the headquarters of Cork County Council.

Drivers who claim not to have received fixed charge penalty notices in the post to try to get away without paying the fine or receiving penalty points will find the loophole cut off from June 1.

There were 6,309 children in care in Ireland at the end of February this year, with 5,822 of these being in foster care, it has been revealed.

Gardaí have been warned that their new roadside drug testing kits may not work when it is cold.

Failure to serve summons for offence is biggest impediment to securing a conviction

The families of the 48 victims of the 1981 Stardust tragedy have welcomed a decision by the Government to appoint a judge to assess whether a new inquiry into the blaze is needed.

The Cabinet became embroiled in a “hot and heavy” row yesterday over whether to grant a fresh State inquiry into the 1981 Stardust tragedy at its weekly meeting yesterday.

The Government remained deeply divided last night as to whether a fresh inquiry into the 1981 Stardust fire tragedy should be established, ahead of a Dáil debate tomorrow.

A fresh stand-off has erupted between Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance over whether a fresh inquiry into the 1981 Stardust tragedy should be established.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has been re-elected as Taoiseach by the most slender of margins, gaining just one vote more than the minimum needed to regain power. Mr Kenny won the fourth and final nomination vote by 59 votes to 49 after 11th-hour talks with Independents.

The next government has been warned to step up its plans to tackle the social housing crisis after one organisation claimed the current strategy was insufficient given the scale of the problem.

Politicians eager to get their teeth stuck into debates about changing society as well as ways to restore cash-starved services have tabled several motions for the new Dáil.

A plan by road safety chiefs plans to name and shame disqualified drivers is set to begin early next year.

Dublin residents living along the route of a planned €20m aviation-fuel pipeline to Dublin Airport have raised safety concerns.

The Courts Service has dismissed reports of a 40% conviction rate for drink-driving cases since 2013 as “simply wrong”, stating that the actual figure stands at 86%.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) said it is “extremely disappointed” that just 40% of drink-driving cases listed before the country’s district courts since 2013 resulted in convictions.