Fianna Fáil TD for Louth, Erin McGreehan has called for the establishment of a dedicated office and national director for animal welfare.

McGreehan made these calls off the back of concerns of the increasing number of animals, in particular dogs, being abandoned, as well as unsafety of breeding and them being kept in unregulated puppy farms.

By way of Parliamentary Question, Deputy McGreehan raised this with the Minister for Agriculture, as she feels that there needs to be a dedicated office established and a national director for animal welfare.

Deputy McGreehan joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

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After years of advocacy, Drogheda is finally set to get a permanent driving test centre, giving new drivers in the area a long-awaited local option and easing pressure on nearby testing hubs.

Labour TD Ged Nash confirmed on Monday (August 18) that he had received written assurance from the Road Safety Authority that the centre is expected to be operational within weeks, marking a major milestone in his campaign.

This follows earlier indications that the centre would open by the end of August.

Deputy Nash joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us more about this.

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This week on The Agenda we spoke to various people about the current issue regarding school transport in Meath. 

We spoke to various parents from Meath who are stressed out and frustrated that their children, who are due to return to school next week, currently have no school transport. 

This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Minister for Education and Meath-East Fine Gael TD Helen McEntee, who addressed the concerns and anger of parents who have been left in the dark over the school transport system.

We also discussed various other issues, including calls for the Minister to intervene to avoid back to school chaos ahead of a strike by secretaries and caretakers.

We also spoke about the Fine Gael candidates who are seeking nominations to contest the Presidential election, and of course, Leaving Certificate results are out tomorrow so we touched on this too.

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Earlier this month we spoke to a heartbroken woman named Megan Royal, whose “fit and healthy” mother died at a Swiss euthanasia clinic earlier this summer.

Today Megan joined us again on the programme with an update as she says that a proposed safeguarding change has made her “more angry”. 

Megan Slough Royal’s mother, Maureen, died in the clinic - despite the fact that she was not terminally ill.

Megan's mother had never told her she wanted to die and was shocked to learn about her death through a message on WhatsApp. 

The clinic then blocked her number, leaving her unable to respond. 

Now, the clinic has told her they will video call relatives before they carry out the procedure, but Megan says this isn’t enough.

Megan bravely joined us on The Agenda again again to give us all the latest on this and to tell us why she has been left even more upset.

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Last month on the programme, we spoke to Aimee Berns who has been living with a debilitating case of endometriosis since the age of 14.

Amie told us about how she felt “honoured” to sit in Dail with other sufferers the day previous and to hear a motion on endometriosis being put forward for the first time.  

During her interview Aimie also told us about how this condition affects her life and about how it has "destroyed" her quality of life. 

Aimie joined us again on The Agenda this morning, this time live from a hospital bed and in excruciating pain as a result of what she is living.

She told us about how she has been “passed from pillar to post with no real help” and said the Government need to do more to help women living with this condition.

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Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly and Heather Humphreys both confirmed yesterday that they will seek the party’s nomination to contest the presidential election.

This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Presidential hopeful Sean Kelly to find out about his decision to seek nominations and what he feels he can bring to the table.

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We were joined on The Agenda this morning by another Meath mum, who is also frustrated and disappointed that her children are currently going into yet another school year with no bus place secured to get to school. 

Carol, who has 5 children - four of whom are autistic, says she has been facing this issue every year for 14 years and says that she is has not yet received notification of the arrangement for this year

Carol told us her story and about what it is like being a mum to four autistic children.

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The annual mattress and sofa amnesty in Louth will “cut the cost of responsible recycling and tackling persistent fly-tipping in rural areas,” according to a local councillor.

Louth County Council have just announced details of the upcoming mattress and couch amnesty to allow for the disposal of bulky items free of charge at venues across the county in early September.

Louth Independent councillor, Declan Power welcomed the announcement and said that “fly-tipping is NOT a victimless crime”. 

Councillor Power joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this and also to tell us more about the initiative.

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The Metropolitan Police has issued a warning to anyone planning on protesting outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court today in support of Kneecap’s Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh.

The 27-year-old rapper, whose stage name is Mo Chara, appeared in the court in June charged with displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation in

#Britain, during a gig in the O2 Forum, Kentish Town last November.

Ó hAnnaidh was released on unconditional bail until his next hearing, which will take place today.

Diarmuid Pepper from The Journal joined us on The Agenda this morning to tell us more about this.

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Aontú Leader and Meath West has called on the Minister for Education Helen McEntee to resolve the ongoing school bus crisis in Rathcore and Baconstown.:

Deputy Toibin stated: “The Rathcore situation is one of the longest running in county Meath. There are 28 children in need of school bus transport into Trim. Currently the bus stop is in Rathmolyan or Agher Cross but this is a distance from parents who seek the pick up to be in Rathcore. Many parents are working and some children would have to be left off an hour before the bus leaves if they are to get the bus. Parents are working in Dublin, Kildare and elsewhere. 

Deputy Toibin joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.

We also heard about why Deputy Toibin believes Ireland has become a more violent place for women after date released to Aontu showed that Gardaí were called to the scene of domestic violence 65,000 times last year

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