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The enactment of the Workplace Relations Bill, which comes into effect on 1 October 2015, represents a welcome and substantial overhaul of the current system for the resolution of employment disputes in Ireland. Breda O’Malley outlines some of the key reforms.

In a report on the cost of medical indemnity insurance published in June this year, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children (the Committee) identified key concerns and made recommendations to the Ministers for Health and Justice, the HSE and other stakeholders.

Following a recent landmark decision in the matter of Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board, handed down by the UK Supreme Court on 11th March 2015, Alison Kelleher and Sharon McCauley highlight the key findings for healthcare professionals.

The office of ombudsman Peter Tyndall recently applied to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for an extension of its jurisdiction to encompass matters concerning clinical judgment.

The Medical Council recently published its Annual Report for 2014. Aisling Malone of Hayes solicitors summarises the trends in the general profile of the profession and also in the Medical Council’s complaints process.

Many working parents look to use statutory parental leave to take time off during the school summer holidays to mind their children, particularly when the kids are of national school going age. Indeed working parents often have little option but to seek this leave given the high cost of childcare in Ireland and the lack of any real affordable short-term childcare options.