EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you up to speed with the five things you should know as you head out the door.

1. #PUBLIC PAY: Members of the country’s largest trade union, SIPTU, have voted to approve the Haddington Road pay deal – ensuring that its provisions will now be adopted for all public servants. The deal was approved by 76 per cent of members – meaning the deal now enjoys a safe majority across the public sector.

2. #ABORTION: Health minister James Reilly has said he is not afraid to suspend any hospital’s powers to terminate a pregnancy, if the provisions of the proposed abortion law are being abused. Reilly was speaking as the Dáil began its debates on the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill, which will face its first votes next week.

3. #FIRE DEATHS: Wicklow County Council has pleaded guilty to three charges relating to the deaths of two firefighters in Bray six years ago. The council admitted it had failed to ensure the safety of its staff when Mark O’Shaughnessy, 26, and Brian Murray, 46, were fatally injured by a collapsing roof during a fire. The charges related to the equipment and safety training given to the two firemen.

4. #NO SHOW: The former chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank, Seán FitzPatrick, has declined an invitation to appear at the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee – saying that while he would be “willing” to attend, it would not be advisable given the criminal charges outstanding against him. FitzPatrick had been invited to give evidence about the purchase of the former Irish Glass Bottle Company site in Ringsend for €431 million.

5. #BEACHED WHALE: The Defence Forces were called to help a whale which was beached in Co Meath this morning. The 2.5-tonne mammal took nearly two hours to return to the waters. Sadly, another whale discovered a few miles to the north, at Mornington, was discovered dead before it could be helped.