Taoiseach Micheál Martin has clashed in the Dáil with the Opposition over plans to revise apartment standards which are currently at the centre of a High Court action. During Leader’s Questions in the Dáil on Wednesday, Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said that revisions to apartment planning standards sought to “rip up” the prior standards and “gut planning rules”. The Government introduced changes to apartment planning standards in July as part of an effort to reduce construction costs. Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns accused the Government of recycling old ideas on apartment standards, which had not worked before. Those taking the case in the High Court claim that the guidelines should have been subject to an environmental impact assessment.

A company that received almost €55 million from the State to tackle hospital waiting lists sought direct talks with Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and lobbied several Ministers as new controls were imposed on the scheme. EHF29 Ltd is a major supplier of hospital insourcing services. Insourcing involves private companies receiving State funds to pay public healthcare staff to treat waiting list patients at night-time and weekends. These companies use public hospital equipment and facilities. Dr Walsh, formerly a consultant anaesthetist and clinical director of Cork University Hospital, said the company had co-ordinated the care of 290,000 public waiting list patients.

The plane is understood to have crashed in a field at Lisselan, southwest of Waterford airport. Map: Glen MurphyOne person has been killed after a light aircraft crashed while approaching Waterford Airport just before lunch hour. Waterford City and County Fire Services, paramedics from the National Ambulance Service and gardaí have all attended the scene near Tramore. It turned around and prepared for an emergency landing at Waterford Airport before crashing in a nearby field. Sinn Féin TD for Waterford David Cullinane said a rescue helicopter was among the emergency services responding to the crash.

The Epstein files are a vast cache of documents which include legal files, witness testimonies and flight logs, collected during an extensive US Justice Department investigation into the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his now jailed associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein died in prison while awaiting trial having been charged with running a network of underage girls for sex. That finally happened on Tuesday – Trump issued “permission” to Republicans to vote in favour of the release. Hours later the Senate reached a unanimous agreement to pass the measure, which would clear it for the president’s signature. And why did he give up the fight to keep the files secret?

Photograph: Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images)As Russian troops and missiles streamed over Ukraine’s borders on the first day of its invasion, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy took a moment to shake hands with his main rival, former president Petro Poroshenko. The show of unity quieted Ukrainian politics for years and bolstered his wartime leadership. These adversaries include Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption agencies, opposition parties, political activists and media outlets. “The country has finally seen what the expression ‘blood money’ means,” Poroshenko’s political party said in a statement about the corruption scandal. Zelenskiy’s wartime cabinet, the statement said, is “unprofessional and corrupt.”Protests in Kyiv last July after the Ukrainian parliament voted to toughen restrictions on two of the country’s independent anti-corruption agencies.

Troy Parrott and the Republic of Ireland team celebrate their win over Hungary in Budapest last Sunday. When Liam Scales headed on to Troy Parrott for the winner against Hungary, elation spread quickly. A moment defined by millimetres with Irish developed technology at the heart of it. Limerick has in turn become a hub of sorts for sports tech in Ireland, with Stats Perform (the owner of Opta) having a base there. Between the IDA attracting multinationals and Enterprise Ireland supporting indigenous businesses, sports tech has become a tremendously successful sector in Ireland.

2025 Quilter Nations Series, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 15/11/2025 Ireland vs Australia Ireland’s Tommy O'Brien celebrates scoring a try that would later be ruled out Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Gary CarrTommy O’Brien is beginning to understand the importance of grasping opportunity. I would have always said it to myself, you want to try and get as many touches on the ball,” says O’Brien. They’re using the 7-1 (bench split) and stuff like that, so they’re not afraid to try a few things” says O’Brien. “So, a lot of work being done on that and then obviously we just know that they’re very good chasers. Opportunity has knocked, and O’Brien is answering.

Bush fires in Australia are becoming more dangerous amid record-breaking droughts and heat caused by climate change. Irishman Ray Farrell recalls his close encounter with the 1994 fires which destroyed over 200 homes and claimed four lives. Bush fires are a growing concern in Australia, even more than when I moved here back in 1983. We now call them fire storms, and they don’t only affect the cockies (small farmers) living out in the bush. The first bit of advice I got about building a house in suburban Sydney was from a Blue Mountains resident (an area notorious for its bush fires).

As Pip gets older I’ve started to consider the end of her life. I’d love a dog of my own but before I’ve even embarked on the journey I’ve already started to dread this future pet’s demise. What if they get on too well and when old dog dies, new dog is heartbroken? I read a headline recently about former NFL star Tom Brady cloning his pet dog. But then, how much would you pay if you could ensure that your cat or dog lives as long as you do?

William Reville has been writing a science column for The Irish Times for more than 30 years. Photograph: Alan BetsonToday’s offering is my last regular science column for The Irish Times, 31 years after my first column appeared in 1995. Noting that no Irish newspaper then carried regular science coverage, I began writing a fortnightly science column for the Examiner in 1987. I later composed a wall poster presenting famous Irish scientists, sponsored by Barry’s Tea and designed by The Irish Times. The weekly science page (now renamed the Science and Climate page) played a leading part in encouraging this great surge in popular interest in science in Ireland over the past 30 years.

A computer-generated image of the MetroLink: the project will need about '8,000 workers' to constructA transportation expert said there is a need to “think outside the box” in building the proposed MetroLink and suggested “something like an Olympic village” to house workers on the project. Prof Caulfield suggested that “something like an Olympic village” could be built to accommodate the 8,000 construction workers, and that this could subsequently be returned to the State. Stops include Swords, Dublin Airport, Ballymun, Glasnevin, O’Connell Street, St Stephen’s Green and ending at the Charlemont Luas stop. I suppose you would find a plot of land along the metro line, because along the metro line it’s where we’re going to want to have dense housing. It will serve Dublin Airport and several locations in the city centre, as well as the increasingly populous northside suburbs.

A makeshift memorial at the site of a Russian strike on a high-rise residential building in Ternopil, western Ukraine on Wednesday. European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels were careful not to comment in too much detail about a US peace plan that has not fully been made public. “Ukrainians want peace – a just peace that respects everyone’s sovereignty, a durable peace that can’t be called into question by future aggression,” said French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot. “But peace cannot be a capitulation.”Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Ukraine, as the victim in the conflict, should not have restrictions imposed on its ability to defend itself. And achieving a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary concessions,” Mr Rubio said.

Address : 23 Synge Street, Portobello, Dublin 8 Price : €14,850,000 Agent : Lisney Sotheby's International RealtyView this property on MyHome.ieIn the centre of Synge Street, Portobello, this fine two-storey-over-garden-level Victorian four-bed has original features and a double-height extension to the rear. Its fireplace is a large white marble, with a pretty rose and grey-coloured patterned tile inset and slate hearth with brass surround. The decor is tired and will need a revamp here and in the diningroom or second reception room, but all the bones are in good condition and should not pose too much of a challenge. HallwayDrawingroomSecond reception roomOn the return, leading to the garden level, is the property’s first bedroom, housed in the new extension. Downstairs is another visual feast beginning with a glass balustrade on the wooden stairs leading down to the expansive kitchen/livingroom.

Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary is promising to rush through legislation to stop rogue employers undermining auto-enrolment pension scheme. Photograph: Sam Boal/Collins PhotosEmployers are subverting the incoming workplace pension scheme and forcing their staff to sign up to inferior in-house arrangements simply to reduce their administrative workload, the Government has said. Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary, is now looking to rush through legislation to close a perceived loophole and ensure that any occupational pension scheme offers workers at least as good a pension arrangement as the My Future Fund auto-enrolment scheme coming into force in January. Mr Reidy welcomed the determination of the Minister to preserve the integrity of the new State-run pension scheme. “New regulations will mean a token employer pension contribution will no longer satisfy the requirements of the Act, cutting off this avenue for those employers looking to violate the spirit of the law.”

Photograph: Declan DohertyA status yellow warning of low temperatures and ice has been issued for 10 counties in the Republic. In Northern Ireland, a UK Met Office snow and ice warning is in place for counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry. It can involve snowfall of 3cm or more in 24 hours, icy conditions, temperatures as low as -4 degrees and dense fog or pockets of freezing fog. Status red This is the most severe warning, triggered by “rare and extremely dangerous” conditions. Icy conditions can be “dangerous” and temperatures can fall to -10 degrees or below.