People with disabilities and their carers indict the government's lack of support for their needs during recent protests. By Sara Burke.

As people with disabilities and their families marched outside the Dail on July 7, those listening to the speeches inside heard reassurances from the Taoiseach and Ministers Harney and Maloney that no respite services for people with disabilities have been cut. If we are to believe our political leaders, why did thousands of people take to the streets on July 7 in Dublin, Galway and Castlebar?

Because services have been cut. These include:

Fine Gael's plans for reforming the healthcare system seem well-intentioned, but are unrealistic. By Sara Burke.

James Reilly has been rewarded for his staunch defence of Enda Kenny in the Fine Gael heave by his ascension to Deputy Leader of the party and reappointment to the front bench in health. So what does Fine Gael’s James Reilly stand for and what would Fine Gael’s health policy mean to the Irish people?

It is not always that easy to tell what Reilly actually stands for, although it is much more obvious what he’s against - much of current health policy. He is very critical of the Minister for Health and Children Mary Harney and her policies, and is often dogged in his criticisms of the HSE - the failures, the scandals, the misdiagnoses, long waits on trolleys and for outpatient appointments and the failure to invest in primary care.

The political drive to use more generic and cheaper drugs will be good for the public purse. But imposing prescription charges on medical card holders is wrong. By Sara Burke.

At 6.30pm, on Friday 25 June, the Department of Health and Children issued a press release announcing the introduction of a new prescription charge for medical card holders. Henceforth, a charge of 50 cent will be imposed on each prescription item dispensed by a pharmacy to people on the medical card scheme. The prescription charge will be capped at €10 per family per month.

The introduction of such charges are conclusively shown to deter people from purchasing medicines. This is particularly true of those on low incomes, those with chronic diseases and older people.

HSE and Dept of Health are ultimately responsible for unaccounted €2.35m. By Sara Burke.

So what has happened to the €2.35m of public money that was channelled through the HSE to the Siptu union?

HSE chief Brendan Drumm says he has no idea.

Siptu say they never received that money.

What was this fund for, how was it spent and why on earth did no state agency take responsibility for the annual €250,000 fund over eight years?

The roles of HSE CEO and cancer chief have recently been filled by Cathal Magee and Susan O'Reilly, whose combined experience indicates interesting times ahead for the health service. By Sara Burke.

Two of the most senior health service posts have been filled in the last couple of weeks. Cathal Magee is the new HSE CEO, while Canadian Susan O’Reilly is the new cancer chief. So what's the word on the new HSE managers?

Magee is a married father of four from Cavan with a BA & MSc in management and a keen interest in sports, particularly GAA, soccer and rugby. He describes himself as a hard working business man but also a family man. He has had a long, successful, varied career, and he has earned enough money never to need to work again, but he appears to be taking on this role out of commitment to public service.

If one lesson has been learned in the recent weeks, it is clear we need to prioritise our children. By Sara Burke.

How come we still don’t know how many children died in care?

Why is it, ten years on from the publication of the national children’s strategy ‘Our Children – their lives’, we are still listening to political squabbles over the poor state of our child protections services? Quite simply, there is no priority given to children by the State, particularly those who need its help most.

Despite a ten-year old national children’s strategy and eleven-year old child protection guidelines, services for children at risk are as bad now as they were before these policies were published. In the 1990s, it was really difficult to get a social worker allocated to a child - it still is.

The cervical cancer vaccine is finally being rolled-out for Irish first-year girls after much uncertainty. By Sara Burke.

This week the HSE started vaccinating first year students in 20 schools around the country with the HPV vaccine. The HPV vaccine is part of a national programme to prevent cervical cancer.

The vaccine was initially recommended by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), but famously in the last few months Mary Harney withdrew the programme, before re-announcing it in the last few weeks.

Emily Logan's investigation highlights State and HSE inefficiency in implementing Children First. By Sara Burke

On Tuesday last, the Ombudsman for Children, Emily Logan, published an investigation into the State’s implementation of Children First, the national guidelines on child protection. In the investigation, Logan reprimanded the State’s failure to adequately protect children.

This is the first totally independent report since the publication of Children First (CF) in 1999 – all previous reports have been commissioned or carried out by the HSE or other State institutions. It is also the first systemic report carried out by the Children’s Ombudsman, who up to now has published reports on specific cases but not on the overall system relating to children’s services.