In The News

In the entire country there are just 26 places for vulnerable children in need of the highest level of specialist care and supervision that Tusla is charged with providing.
And only 15 of these beds are currently available.

What this means is that when the child and family agency petitions the courts to have a vulnerable and in-danger child taken into its special care, it then has to admit to the judge that it has no beds available.

Judges are increasingly expressing their frustration and exasperation at this situation – and at the patchwork of care arrangements facing these children. These typically involve special emergency arrangements (SEAs), often in B&Bs, hotel rooms or private apartments. This is provided by private companies, charging the State nearly €60 million in 2024 alone.

Social Affairs Correspondent Kitty Holland explains the background to this ongoing failure and why the increasingly loud comments from the bench just might effect change.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The world is in oil shock. Since the US and Israel launched its war on Iran one month ago, the impact on the rest of the world has been felt in ever-rising energy prices.
Iran controls – and has mostly closed – the Strait of Hormuz through which one-fifth of the world’s oil supply usually passes.

There is no guarantee in this uncertain war when oil supplies will start flowing again as normal.
History shows that oil shocks are followed by recessions says economist, writer and Irish Times columnist David McWilliams.

But will that happen this time? And is there enough understanding in Ireland how this war could impact on all our lives in the coming weeks.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Please note, this episode contains discussion of suicide and sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised.

Last Thursday, a Spanish woman called Noelia Castillo, died by euthanasia at the age of 25. The case made headlines in Spain and beyond, because the young woman had spent the previous two years fighting a legal battle against her father, over her right to end her life.

The case went all the way to the European Court of Human Rights, but last week, the court eventually rejected her father's request for the euthanasia to be put on hold.

The day after the ruling, Castillo died under medical supervision in a hospital north of Barcelona, where crowds gathered outside - some to mourn, others to protest.

In today’s episode, Irish Times contributor Guy Hedgecoe unpacks the complexities of the case, why it has divided public opinion in Spain, and the circumstances that led Castillo to make this deeply contested decision.

Presented by Suzanne Brennan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dublin City Council is keeping up the pressure on the Government to legislate for a tourist tax administered by local authorities.

The level of the tax, also called a bed levy, city tax or accommodation tax, has not been pinned down but €5 per room, per night has been mooted. There could be a sliding scale depending on the standard of accommodation.

With 21 out of 27 EU member states having such a tax, why is Ireland stubbornly resistant to what would be a boost to local authority coffers?

Dublin editor Olivia Kelly explains the background to the tax.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The scale of the fake medicines in Ireland has been made worryingly clear with the latest figures from the State’s drugs watchdog.

The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) seized more than 750,000 units of illegal and fake medicines over the course of 2025.

As has been in the case in previous years, anabolic steroids top the list of fake imported drugs, with erectile dysfunction medication next.

But what has alarmed the watchdog is the 180 per cent rise in individual consignments year on year – people going online and ordering these bogus products – with a “significant proportion” being presented as GLP-1 products, also known as weight-loss drugs.

So why do people seek out these particular medicines online; are they aware they may be fake despite their apparently authentic packaging and appearance; and is there an understanding of the health risks involved?

Irish Times health correspondent Shauna Bowers explains the ever-increasing rise in fake medicines reaching Ireland.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.