EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you the five stories you need to know before you clock off for the day.

1. #ULSTER BANK: As Ulster Bank admitted that it could take up to another fortnight to fix the technical problems that have hampered customer payments since 19 June, director of consumer protection at the Central Bank has told an Oireachtas Committee that the group’s contingency planning has been “appalling” and “exasperating”. Bernard Sheridan also insisted that customers should be compensated.

2. #ALLOWANCES: Details of allowances paid to some civil servants have been revealed, showing millions of euro in expenditure covering items such as driving costs, shoe and clothes allowances and health insurance. See all the figures – in full – for yourself here.

3. #JOBLESS: Ireland’s unemployment rate rose to 14.9 per cent in June with the latest data from the CSO revealing that 440,600 people are signed onto the Live Register. The figures also show that the number of people under the age of 25 claiming social welfare has fallen for 24th month in-a-row.

4. #ACTA: The European Parliament has overwhelmingly defeated the international ACTA anti-piracy agreement. Opposition across Europe had broadened over fears that it would limit Internet freedom.

5. #A DOG’S LIFE: A Kildare canine called ‘Patch’ had quite the adventure today but he has now been reunited with his owner Deirdre Anglin. Irish Rail posted a photo of the dog to its Twitter account this morning after he mistakenly boarded a train at Kilcock and ended up lost at Pearse Station in Dublin.