Cleaning up dog waste is the full legal responsibility of the dog owner, Meath County Council has stated, in response to a motion from a local councillor calling for dog waste bag dispensers to be installed around Athboy town.

At the July meeting of the Kells Municipal District, Councillor Mike Bray asked the council to consider providing dispensers at selected locations to help tackle persistent dog fouling in public spaces.

In its reply, the council said it does not install dog waste bag points except at large recreational sites, such as Blackwater Park and beaches.

Councillor Mike Bray spoke to us this morning on The Agenda about this. 

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The excavation of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home comes “too late” for some families, an alliance representing survivors has said. 

Between 1925 and 1961, the County Galway home was run by Bon Secours Sisters, looking after young, mostly unmarried, mothers and their young children. 

In 2017, an investigation confirmed there were "significant quantities of human remains" buried within the grounds of the home. 

This week, the excavation of the site began - something survivors have been calling for for many years. 

We were joined on the programme this morning by Breeda Murphy, PRO of Tuam Mother and Baby Home Alliance, to talk to us some more about this.

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We were joined on The Agenda this morning by James Sexton, who has been lobbying politicians seeking change in the law in relation to inheritance tax and what

he believes is discrimination against people who are childless.

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Restrictions on the number of overnight take-offs at Dublin Airport have been lifted, after proposals to limit flights to fewer than 36 flights per night were rejected by An Coimisúin Pleánala.

An average of 95 planes can now take off and land at night at Dublin Airport, after operator DAA sought to remove restrictions which limited how many flights could use the runways.

We were joined on The Agenda

this morning by Spokesperson for the St Margarets The Ward Residents Group, Niamh

Maher, to get her thoughts on this.  

We were also joined by Sarah

Ryan from the DAA to get her thoughts on this.  

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The number of households behind on their energy bills has soared by 86,000 in the year to April, figures obtained by the Irish

Independent have confirmed.

The energy regulator has been accused of holding back the arrears figures after the release of the data for March and April was delayed for a number of months. March figures should have been issued in May.

But the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has denied there had been any political element to the delay in producing the arrears data.

Daragh Cassidy from Bonkers.ie spoke to us this morning on The Agenda to tell us more about this.

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The Government may consider a new bespoke permission system to allow Ukrainian refugees to remain in Ireland once the EU’s temporary protection directive expires in 2027.

Discussions on the future of how the State deals with Ukrainian refugees are under way within Government, with a raft of options being considered, including the international protection system.

However, sources have indicated Ukrainian nationals may be reluctant to move into the international protection system, as it would prohibit them from returning to Ukraine.

Brian Killoran from The Ukraine Civil Society Forum Ireland spoke to us this morning on The Agenda about this.

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Sinn Féin Senator Maria McCormack has said we must urgently end the neglect of women with endometriosis and called for the government to support Sinn Féin’s Dáil motion seeking to improve access to endometriosis care for thousands of women affected across the state. 

The motion which was debated earlier this week followed a series of public meetings hosted by Uachtarán Shinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald with those impacted by endometriosis across the state. 

Senator Maria McCormack joined us on the The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

We were also joined by Amie Berns, a woman who has been living with endometriosis and says that she felt “honoured” to sit in Dail with other sufferers and to hear the motion being put forward for the first time. 

Amie bravely opened up about the constant pain she is living with as a result of endometriosis.

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The Department of Health has released the total number of notifications received last year for abortions carried out in Ireland. It reports there were 10,852 abortions in 2024 – the highest number on record since the law changed in 2019.

For Louth, in 2024, there were 333 abortions, one of the highest ratios outside Dublin. There were 359 abortions in Meath in 2024 (the sixth highest number per county).

Commenting on the latest figures, Pro Life Campaign spokesperson Eilís Mulroy said: “The latest figures are truly shocking”. 

Eilis joined us on the The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Minister for Finance and Fine Gael TD Pascal Donohue, and we are going to be discussing major progress in the delivery of the National Broadband Plan. 

The ambitious national project, aimed at connecting over one million people across rural Ireland, is now on track and within budget.

We also discussed Trump's tariffs and the reality that Ireland is now entering troubled economic waters. 

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A 52-year-old man caught with over €9 million worth of drugs and over €1 million in cash has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Gardaí said Andrew Pender was at the top tier of a Dublin drugs dealing network.

Pender, from Ely Green in Dublin, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering.

A car and van with hidden electronic storage compartments and a stolen Garda uniform were also recovered during the course of the Garda's Dublin Crime Response Team's investigation.

Crime Correspondent at the Irish Sun, John Hand, spoke to us this morning on The Agenda to tell us more about this.

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