GOOD MORNING.

Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.

Winter virus

1. The current incidence of RSV, influenza and Covid-19 surpassed the most pessimistic modelling contained in the government’s Winter Plan, according to interim HSE boss Stephen Mulvaney.

The interim CEO of the HSE will appear before the Oireachtas Health Committee today where he will say that flu is already at levels that make this an exceptional season when compared to previous years.

RSV, along with influenza, continues to place significant pressure on GPs and hospitals, while Covid-19 levels have risen in recent weeks, he will explain.

Healthcare costs

2. Extending free GP care to all in 2026 would cost the State between €381 million and €881 million, new research has estimated.

The report was published today by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and funded by the Department of Health.

The research estimated that there would be an additional 1.9 to 2.3 million GP visits in 2026 if free GP care is extended to all.

Invalid evictions

3. Over 40% of notices of tenancy termination for sale of property were found to be invalid in the final quarter of 2022 by national housing charity Threshold.

Threshold’s impact report for the fourth quarter of the year details how the charity’s advisors supported 17,012 individuals, including 10,555 adults and 6,457 children.

In the last quarter of the year, just over 40% of notices of termination for sale of property were found to be invalid by Threshold advisors, while over 60% of notices citing rent arrears as a cause for termination, were deemed invalid.

Paschal Donohoe

4. The businessman who paid for campaign posters to be erected for Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe is on the board of the Land Development Agency.

On Sunday, Minister Donohoe apologised for failing to declare a donation of services to the ethics watchdog during the 2016 General Election campaign.

The LDA was established in September 2018 and is a commercial, State-sponsored body whose purpose is to “maximise the supply of affordable and social homes on public land”.

Nepal plane crash

5. Nepali hospital staff have been handing over bodies to grieving families today after a plane with 72 people on board crashed, the country’s worst aviation disaster in three decades.

The Yeti Airlines flight with 68 passengers and four crew plummeted into a steep gorge, smashed into pieces and burst into flames as it approached the central city of Pokhara on Sunday.

All those on board, including six children, are believed to have died.

Neutrality

6.The Dutch ambassador to Ireland believes there has been a marked change in how Ireland is debating the issue of neutrality.

In an interview with The Journal, Ambassador Adriaan Palm and his country’s military attaché Lieutenant Colonel Richard Piso discussed Ireland and the Netherlands’ military connections.

The Dutch diplomats spoke about the changing security environment, their views on Irish neutrality and how Brexit has opened greater relationships between European partners who previously looked to the UK for alliances.

UK

7. London’s Metropolitan Police Commissioner has admitted “horrific” failures by the force and apologised to victims after an elite armed officer was revealed as a serial rapist.

Pc David Carrick, 48, attacked at least a dozen women over an 18-year period throughout his career with the Met, using his position to gain their trust and scare them into staying silent.

He had come to the attention of police over nine incidents, including allegations of rape, domestic violence and harassment between 2000 and 2021, but faced no criminal sanctions or misconduct findings.

War

8. A man who claims to have been a member of Russian mercenary group Wagner is seeking asylum in Norway after a harrowing escape across the border.

Twenty-six-year-old Andrei Medvedev declared that he is willing to speak about his experiences in the Wagner group to people who are investigating war crimes.

Police, who did not confirm his identity, said in a statement to AFP that a man was “detained by Norwegian border guards and Norwegian police” on Friday morning.

China population

9. China has announced its first population decline in decades.

Its National Bureau of Statistics has reported that the country had 850,000 fewer people at the end of 2022 than the previous year, as what has been the world’s most populous nation ages and its birth rate plunges.