Irish abortion laws will be tested in the High Court today as a 17-year-old girl challenges the HSE for preventing her from travelling to Britain for a termination.

Today is make-or-break day for the latest talks aimed at resolving the nurses’ dispute over pay and working hours. The Irish Nurses Organisation and the Psychiatric Nurses Association are vowing to escalate their industrial action by the end of the week if no meaningful proposals are put forward by the HSE this afternoon.

There has been a call for an improvement in the care of people in Northern Ireland who have asthma. An average of three people die every month as a result of an asthma attack. Thousands more are admitted to hospital every year.

Pharmacists are warning the country’s methadone treatment scheme could collapse. The Irish Pharmaceutical Union says the State’s medicines schemes – including the methadone treatment used to wean heroin addicts off the street version of the drug – could come to an end if the HSE doesn’t review fees paid to its members.

Health Minister, Paul Goggins has announced that pay awards for healthcare professionals in Northern Ireland will match NHS pay awards. In line with the rest of the public sector, the implementation of awards over 1.5% will be staged, with 1.5% paid at 1 April 2007 and the remainder being paid from 1 November.

Talks on the nurses’ dispute being held at Government Buildings have been adjorned until Tuesday. Efforts to end the four-week old dispute over pay and a shorter working week had been ongoing since mid afternoon under the auspices of the National Implementation body.

More than 40 European policy makers, practitioners, researchers and academics are meeting in Belfast today to discuss how children’s rights can be promoted by positive parenting.

Talks on the nurses’ dispute have been adjourned until Saturday afternoon. Liam Doran, General Secretary of the Irish Nurses Organisation, said the negotiations had reached a critical phase. He said unions wanted a definite date for the commencement of a 35-hour week.

Ireland’s first dedicated autism centre has been opened in Dublin by former Boyzone star Keith Duffy. The TV personality`s daughter Mia, six, was diagnosed with the condition some years ago and as patron of Irish Autism Action, he has been a long-standing campaigner for better autism facilities.

Details of a study released today indicate that continued participation in a methadone programme substantially reduces individuals’ drug use and their involvement in acquisitive crime.