EACH WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you five things you need to know before you head out the door.

1. #ABORTION: The Irish government has been told by the Council of Europe to expedite the implementation of either legislation or regulation to bring the country into line with the Supreme Court’s ruling on the X Case on abortion. The Council noted with “satisfaction” the recent report of the expert group set up to examine options for the government in the wake of a European court ruling in the A, B and C versus Ireland case.

2. #PENALTY POINTS: Justice Minister Alan Shatter has said that the allegations of inappropriate termination of penalty points on some motorists’ licences concerns fewer than 300 incidents. Shatter played down the allegations in the Dáil today and said that the naming in the chamber last week of a member of the judiciary, who allegedly benefited from the removal of points on their licence, was unfair.

3. #ARREST: A garda has been arrested in Galway over an alleged sexual assault. The man is being questioned over an incident alleged to have happened in the Midlands and has been suspended by the Garda Commissioner. The arrest was the first carried out by the Garda Ombudsman since its inception five years ago.

4. #REGISTERED JUDGEMENTS: The value of registered judgements against debtors rose sharply in the first 11 months of this year according to the latest figures by the debt reporting agency Stubbs Gazette. Figures show fewer consumers are defaulting on loans but those who are have bigger debts.

5. #CHRISTMAS PARTIES: A third of all Irish workers admit to drinking too much at their Christmas Party according to a survey of 2,000 Irish people by One4all which also found that one-in-ten workers say they have kissed a colleague at their annual staff party.