LAST UPDATE | 23 Dec 2019

EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you all the news you need to know as you start the day.

1. #PERSONAL INJURIES: The State Claims Agency has paid out over €2 billion as a result of personal injury claims since the start of this decade, with over €1.9 billion of this coming from payouts related to healthcare.

2. #AUSTRALIA: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rejected calls for “reckless” and “job-destroying” cuts to the country’s vast coal industry amid criticism of his response to a deadly climate-fuelled bushfire crisis.

3. #EXPENSES: Former TD Dara Murphy is refusing to put himself up for investigation in relation to his attendance and expenses, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

4. #MENTAL HEALTH: The practice of physically restraining and secluding patients in Ireland’s in-patient mental health facilities increased by 57% over the past 10 years, according to a new report by the Mental Health Commission.

5. #SHOPPING: Irish households are estimated to have spent an average of €2,800 in shops this month after an “erratic and unpredictable” year in shopping, Retail Ireland has said.

6. #NEW ZEALAND: The death toll from the eruption on New Zealand’s White Island has risen to 19, with police confirming another death in hospital.

7. #KILDARE: Cannabis herb with an estimated street value of €70,000 was seized by gardaí and two men were arrested in Kilmeague in Co Kildare yesterday.

8. #RACISM: Gary Neville has called on the Premier League to do more to stop racism, and encouraged players to walk off the field when they experience racist abuse during matches.

9. #CHRISTMAS MESSAGE: President Michael D Higgins has said that we must “all act as a global community” to help combat climate change in his annual Christmas message.

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