Legislative proposals to give effect to the opt-out system of consent to organ donations are being progressed and it is hoped to finalise the Heads of a Bill this year, the Minister for Health, Dr Leo Varadkar has said.

The immediate priority for the old Meath County Council yard adjacent to Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan has been to ensure its security as far as possible “and to carry out localised demolition and remedial works as funding permits, with a view to risk mitigation”, the HSE has said.

The Health Research Board (HRB) has awarded €3 million in funding for research meant to enhance the delivery of primary care in Ireland.

The Minister for Health Dr Leo Varadkar a fortnight ago officially opened the Emergency Department at Dublin’s Mater Private Hospital (MPH), the first private casualty division on Dublin’s north-side.

The Minister for Health expects to have the initial results from a universal health insurance (UHI) costing analysis exercise in April, following which he “will revert to Government with a roadmap on the next steps to UHI”.

The National Clinical Programme for Rehabilitation Medicine (NCPRM) has developed its model of care (currently going through public consultation) to guide the development of services for children and teenagers with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI).

Some 23 of the 35 posts identified to provide for the implementation of the Clinical Programme to address self-harm presentations in emergency departments as part of the investment in mental health in 2013, are now in place and the remainder are in the recruitment process, it has emerged.

Ireland’s first Master’s degree programme in Audiology in Ireland will be provided by the College of Medicine and Health at University College of Cork (UCC).

Cochlear implantation has been found to be associated with improved speech perception and cognitive function in adults 65 years or older with profound hearing loss, according to a report published online by JAMA Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery.

Mirabegron has been found to improve storage function and subjective symptoms, without influencing voiding function, in women with overactive bladder (OAB), new research has found.