Large swathes of the country will not have access to the free GP care for under sixes, it has emerged.

Private solicitors working for the Director of Public Prosecutions were paid almost €6.5m last year.

1) Simon Harris

The Government has again rejected proposals to clamp down on rogue metal traders and reduce the increasing number of thefts around the country.

The reality of coalition government is well known to Labour. It has bounced back from the brink before, says Gary Murphy.

The numbers with discretionary medical cards has fallen 10,400 since the start of the year, with the greatest share of withdrawals or refusals in the South.

A quarter of all homes in the Republic have been valued at less than €100,000 by their owners for the purpose of paying the property tax — more than three times the estimate used by the Government in designing the tax.

The No side has remained ahead throughout the afternoon in the referendum to abolish the Seanad - but with a very tight margin.

The final Dáil vote saw 31 TDs oppose the X case legislation as numbers were swelled by left-wing deputies protesting that the new law was not liberal enough.

Some county councils have lost a third of their staff since the start of the recession, as figures show staffing levels across local authorities have fallen by almost 25% over the past five years.

The first results of the Children's Rights Referendum have been confirmed today.

Legal and constitutional challenges restrict further reductions of premium pensions for politicians and office holders, according to junior finance minister Brian Hayes.

An independent TD has been told to take his financial advice from Time Magazine rather than Playboy.

Changes to the Waterford constituency will be of concern to TDs in Tipperary and Waterford City, writes Conor Kane

THE number of TDs in the next Dáil will be chopped from 166 to 158 as part of a fundamental overhaul of constituencies.

A new HSE review of its child and family services shows the Tipperary South area had the highest level of child neglect in the country although Dublin South East had the highest percentage of sexual abuse.

Tax-evading TD Mick Wallace will face pressure to resign from the Dáil technical group as he delivers a defence tomorrow of his decision not to step down as a TD.

Ireland has backed the European Fiscal Stability Treaty with around 60% of those that turned out to vote yesterday saying Yes to the treaty.

Results in the EU Fiscal Treaty referendum are flowing in fast this afternoon and it looks like the country has passed the 30th Amendment to the Constitution.

Ireland is on course to back the European Fiscal Treaty with a vote of around 60% after the first official results from constituencies were announced.

The first constituencies to return a result, Tipperary South and Galway East, have declared an overall 62% majority in favour of the Fiscal Treaty referendum.

Independent TD Michael Lowry has defended his right to have access to ministersdespite damning Moriarty tribunal findings against him.

FINANCE

HEAVY-HANDED tactics by repossessors of farm machinery have been condemned in the Dáil and in the European Parliament.

A series of crucial council meetings is due to take place between today and Wednesday, which look set to finalise the line up for the Presidential election.

A blow has been dealt to David Norris' presidential hopes tonight as it was confirmed that Independent TD Mattie McGrath will not be supporting him.

David Norris is now just three short of the 20 names required to allow him enter the presidential race.

THE HSE has been accused of “bullying and silencing” a senior consultant who spoke out against the imminent closure of a 49-bed acute psychiatric unit.

THE decision by Michael Noonan, Minister for Finance, to allow pension companies pass on the 0.6% jobs tax to their customers, whether contributors or beneficiaries, was a direct contradiction of the views he had expressed in the Dáil debate and a capitulation to Industry pressure.

AT least nine Independent TDs have agreed in principle to forming a Dáil technical group giving them similar speaking and other rights to political parties.

OUTGOING minister of state Martin Mansergh said he was considering an attempt at the Seanad after he lost his Dáil seat in Tipperary South on Saturday.

INDEPENDENT TD for Dublin South, Shane Ross, has held out the prospect that Fine Gael could form a Government with the support of “like-minded” independents following the election of the largest ever number of non-party candidates across the country.

From a former stockbroker to a pro-cannabis campaigner, the Independent TDs in the next Dáil are a diverse bunch.

It was a case of second time lucky for independent candidate Seamus Healy, in the Tipperary South constituency.

Fianna Fáil's Martin Mansergh has been eliminated on Count four in Tipperary South.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen told Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin to concentrate his efforts on other constituencies because his presence was not needed to secure seats in Laois-Offaly.

“I TOLD Mattie six months ago that if he was going to stay in Fianna Fáil, I wouldn’t be voting for him.”

FORMER Fianna Fáil TD Mattie McGrath and former Fine Gael TD Michael Lowry have indicated they would support a Fine Gael-led single-party government as Independents.