Extending free State childcare to two-year-olds with an increase to 33 hours of such care per week at a cost of €495m forms the crux of the party’s childcare policy, launched today.

Only a third of the country’s network of over 560 Garda stations has experienced an increase in staffing levels in the past five years, despite almost 2,800 extra gardaí joining the force over the period.

A great man for the one-liners is our Micheál. As we prepared to quiz him about their TV encounter and Leo Varadkar’s car crash response to that illegal drug question (some cannabis in college but that was a long time ago) the Fianna Fáil leader was unexpectedly wreathed in smoke from a nearby ventilation system.

Fianna Fáil’s first electoral event of the campaign showed a relaxed Mr Martin in composed form ahead of the three-week sprint.

Assistant Commissioner Pat Leahy said the target for local garda commanders should not be is crime up or down but “community safety”.

Research and accounts by five gardaí show criminal networks are becoming embedded in society and normalised due to fear, writes Security Correspondent Cormac O’Keeffe.

The number of referrals to the Child and Family Agency relating to alleged abuse have hit a quarterly high.

Children in one of the country’s busiest foster care and child protection and welfare service areas are still at risk due to on-going delays in receiving services, a Hiqa inspection has found.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will sack junior health minister Catherine Byrne if she abstains in a vote of no-confidence in Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy today.

Homelessness champion Alice Leahy said a cheque for €33,000 raised by gardaí through the sale of a commemorative book will be of “enormous” benefit to her organisation.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy will tomorrow attempt to address concerns by junior health minister Catherine Byrne after a warning that she may abstain or support a Dáil motion against him.

The opening of the new Kevin Street Garda Station is a timely boost for the force, writes Security Correspondent Cormac O’Keeffe

Seven Fine Gael selection conventions are being brought forward from September to July.

Less than half of all gardaí on duty were engaged in patrolling and high-visibility policing last year, an internal garda audit has found.

Child protection groups are deeply concerned by practices which show some of Tusla’s foster care services are falling short of basic state standards.

Frontline gardaí have strongly criticised cuts to the training budget at a time of accelerated recruitment and a backlog of training needs for existing members.

What jobs there were were mostly for the boys, writes Lise Hand

Manchester bomber Salman Abedi phoned his mother and said “forgive me” hours before the attack which killed 22 people, according to Libyan security forces.

It could seek a coalition with Sinn Féin but that would require Napoleonic verve, writes Gerard Howlin

The health watchdog, HIQA, have found more than 100 foster carers have not been put through the required repeat vetting.

Children of gardaí have been approached on a football pitch and told their father is a “scumbag” for policing a protest after being identified via social media, a Garda conference has heard.

Senior gardaí have described reports that they are opposed to government plans for a pilot drug injecting centre as “way off the mark”.

Labour is aiming to double its Dáil seats in the next general election and will begin the process of selecting candidates in the coming weeks as it seeks to rebuild the party.

Gang intimidation is “widespread” in many communities with children as young as 12 being sucked into criminality, said the drugs strategy minister.

Government plans to significantly expand the Garda Reserve are in question as figures show the strength of the volunteer body has collapsed by 36% in the last two years.

What is required from Fine Gael is nerve and imagination to leave its comfort zone, writes Gerard Howlin

A son of Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh has been spared a criminal conviction and a possible sentence for stealing a box of Desperados beer.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny has just announced a number of new junior ministers in the Dáil.

A Garda Ombudsman report has said it appears, on the balance of probabilities, that details of the arrest of TD Clare Daly on suspicion of drink-driving were leaked “in an unauthorised manner” by someone within An Garda Síochána.

Accusations that Finance Minister Michael Noonan is a “vulture-fund lover” sparked a major row at the Oireachtas Housing Committee yesterday.

Garda work injury rates, including from assaults, are 10 times higher than that of the average worker, official figures show.

Two men have been arrested after cocaine and heroin worth €65,000 was seized in Dublin.

Further industrial action in secondary schools is looming after teachers voted to cease working additional hours they say are no longer required when past pay deals expire this summer.

Labour’s Seanad nominees will be announced today as the party’s votes are counted.

Newly elected Cork TD Mick Barry is adamant to keep water charges, the health crisis, and the homelessness issue on the agenda of the 32nd Dáil.

A record number of women will form part of the new Dáil as gender quotas put more females on the ballot papers.

They insist they are two distinct parties which have no intention of entering government with each other, but Fine Gael’s and Fianna Fáil’s leaders had near identical welcomes from protesters yesterday who are convinced they are part of the same problem.

Enda Kenny spoke for almost half an hour live on TV and radio without saying anything, according to Daniel McConnell.

Fianna Fáil has backed down on mooted plans to order party members to pick a female general election candidate in a tightly contested constituency after a legal threat from a male councillor who claimed he was being blocked from running.

Fianna Fáil has ruled out holding a referendum on changing the Constitution in relation to abortion if the party was to enter Government after the next general election.