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

1. #EMPATHY The Taoiseach has said that he “feels the people’s pain“, but warned that the upcoming budget is going to be tough, no matter how it was delivered. Enda Kenny added that he would look to implement changes in “as fair a way as possible”.

2. #TARGETS The Central Bank has told mortgage providers that they must have concluded sustainable mortgage restructures with 15 per cent of distressed borrowers by the end of the year. Lenders must then improve that figure to 25 per cent by March,

3. #WASHINGTON Details have emerged about the gunman who killed 12 people in a rampage at a military building in Washington DC yesterday. Reports paint former US Navy reservist Aaron Alexis as a Buddhist who suffered from frequent flashes of rage.

4. #STRIKE AVERTED Trade union Unite announced that talks between staff and management at building society EBS have been successful, averting threatened strike action. Unite official Colm Quinlan said that all parties had “worked hard” to avoid industrial action.

5. #SEANAD REFERENDUM The Houses of the Oireachtas has said that it is “not possible” to estimate just how much could be saved by abolishing the Seanad. The Yes campaign has said that the figure would be €20 million a year, but that figure has been disputed.