A round-up of today's other Irish news stories in brief
More GPs to be eligible for GMS contracts
New provisions allowing more GPs to apply for General Medical Services (GMS) scheme contracts have been announced by Minister for Health Mary Harney, writes Steven Carroll.
Following the changes, any doctor with a full-time practice in an area for one year or more is entitled to apply for a GMS contract.
GPs who obtain contracts are entitled to accept patients eligible for a medical card under the Health Act, 2008, which changed eligibility criteria for medical cards.
The arrangements will apply for a transition period ending in August 2013. Ms Harney said she wanted to see open access to GMS contracts for suitably qualified GPs.
Court hearing on archdiocese report
An in-camera hearing will take place at the High Court today to determine what contents of the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation’s report may be published, while avoiding prejudicing forthcoming criminal trials.
The report was referred to the High Court in July by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern following advice by the Attorney General.
Articles on HSE win media award
Freelance journalist Sara Burke was presented with a national medical media award in Dublin last night for a series of articles focusing on the HSE which she wrote for and were published in The Irish Times.
Her series won the consumer print category of the annual GlaxoSmithKline Irish Medical Media Awards, which are now in their eighth year.
The overall award of Irish Medical Journalist of the Year was shared among Dr Mark Hamilton and Maggi Gibson, Waddell Media Ltd, for the series How long will you liveand Mark Warren of Mint Productions and Dr Hamilton for their work on When the Party's Over.
Man in court for shooting farmer
A man in his early 20s is to appear in court this morning charged over the shooting of a farmer at his farm on Tuesday afternoon.
Séamus O’Byrne (50) was wounded in the upper body when he was shot by a man armed with a shotgun. The incident took place at Three Wells farm in Co Wicklow.