Minister for Health James Reilly’s addition of two towns in his own constituency – Balbriggan and Swords – to a list of primary care centres is still causing controversy, two weeks after this story broke. Despite rounds of questioning in the Dáil and long media outings by Minister Reilly, we are no clearer now on how they got on the list and what criteria were used to compile the list. By Sara Burke.

There is a government commitment to develop primary care centres (PCCs). There are three ways of funding those centres –

Minister for Health James Reilly is over his quota of ministerial advisers and without any specific expertise in his priority area of health reform – universal health insurance. Martin Connor, Reilly’s most senior special adviser, was appointed last June for six months and in December signed a three-year contract worth €480,000.

The Minister for Health's special adviser Martin Connor is paid €160,000 a year for 80% of his time. By Sara Burke.

Targets set by Minister James Reilly for reducing the number of people waiting on trolleys and wait times for hospital treatment are unambitious, but if achieved they may be reason for cautious optimism. By Sara Burke.

Last week's rejection of the HSE's National Service Plan by Minister for Health James Reilly was nothing but a poor attempt to distance himself from cuts he will oversee. By Sara Burke.

On 14 September, Minister for Health James Reilly announced that he had received Cabinet approval to lift restrictions on GPs treating patients with medical cards. So will this make it easier for people to access GPs and drive down the high costs of GP visits?

A badly designed Nursing Homes Support Scheme means that 1,100 older people are now waiting for nursing home places. By Sara Burke.

How has Dr James Reilly fared during his first term as Minister for Health? Sara Burke reviews.

The political season has ended and James Reilly's speech to the MacGill summer school was upbeat, but immense challenges face him now and when the autumn season begins. At the 28 July meeting of the newly formed HSE board, many hard facts were tabled for discussion.

Hospital consulants have been exempted from the Government's voluntary 15% pay cut, for now. Why so? And how much do they really earn? By Sara Burke.

Progress on the new national children's hospital has been stalled since the beginning of 2011 but an independent review to look into the cost and location of the hospital, announced last week, should get things moving again. By Sara Burke.