PSYCHIATRIC nurses have warned that they plan this week to significantly increase their industrial action, which has shut wards and curtailed services all over the country .

A British couple whose three young children were taken into care in Portugal after the pair allegedly drank themselves into a stupor could face a social services investigation when they return home, it emerged yesterday.

The Garda Representative Association has called for the setting-up of an out-of-hours service for the care and welfare of vulnerable children.

Violence against women is costing British society £40bn a year yet charities working to provide refuge and aid to some of the most vulnerable people in society are woefully under-funded, a leading charity warns.

Leopardstown Park Hospital in south Dublin is closing 21 beds and plans to suspend respite care for around 30 families a month. The suspension comes into effect at the beginning of May.

There were 165 mental health tribunals held in February 2008, according to the latest figures published by the Mental Health Tribunal.

A slight increase in the income thresholds for recipients of the Carers Allowance and Carers Benefit is coming into effect from today.

THE report into the breast cancer misdiagnosis of Rebecca O’Malley yesterday exposed major flaws in patient care and raised serious concerns about two hospitals designated as national “centres of excellence”.

Tough new checks on people who want to work with children and vulnerable adults are to be introduced in Northern Ireland.

Irish mothers who refuse to believe their cherished sons have fathered illegitimate children are among the most popular users of DNA paternity services, it was revealed today.