EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING,TheJournal.ie brings you five things you need to know before 5 o’clock…

1. #MOTORING: The National Car Testing Service is to increase the charge for car inspections by 10 per cent from the beginning of next month. While the price of having your car deemed road-worthy (or not) will now cost €55, Minister Leo Varadkar has said that the price hike will not be the start of a continuing trend – and has committed to freezing the price for at least three years.

2. #BONDS: Here’s some good news for Angela Merkel: after Germany issued a new batch of 6-month bills at an auction this morning, the demand for the government’s debt was so intense that the average yield was negative. In other words, the bond markets are now paying Germany to borrow money. Yes, really.

3. #ALCOHOL: The government is looking at introducing minimum prices for alcohol soon in a bid to combat alcohol misuse, a Minister at the Department of Health has confirmed. While the exact price increases have yet to be decided, it has been reported that beer could be doubled in price and €4 could be added to the price of own-brand vodka in supermarkets if the proposed legislation is introduced.

4. #EMIGRATION: There has been a reported surge in Irish people applying for permanent residency visas in Australia ahead of the adoption of tougher new rules on who can live in the country: from July 1, Australia will reform migrant residency applications and introduce the new SkillSelect system, which assigns ‘points’ to applicants based on their education or whether they have been trained in a particular skill.

5. #STILL THERE: Limerick residents may be glad to learn that the county has not been wiped off the map – despite claims to the contrary by a TD earlier today.

Google has clarified that Limerick is on its Earth and Map software – and always has been – after Fianna Fáil’s Niall Collins issued a press release claiming that Limerick was not featured on the Google Earth. Collins later admitted that he had only heard the matter being talked about on local radio after which he decided to take action.