1. #EXPENSES: TDs got €2.3 million in expenses between June and September of this year, reports the Sunday Independent. The Sunday Tribune leads with the story that the taxpayer footed the €9000 bill after Minister for State Dara Calleary used a private jet to fly into Dublin for the vote on the by-elections. Calleary then flew on to Brussels after he voted against the by-elections.

2. #CHILE MINE: The rescue effort for the 33 trapped Chilean miners could get underway as soon as Wednesday after the shaft going down into the underground cabin was reinforced this morning. The miners will be winched up the shaft in three groups.

3. #DISSIDENTS: Two people will appear before the Special Criminal Court today at 11am in relation to dissident republican activity. Ten people were arrested yesterday and on Friday as part of a garda investigation. Nine men were detained in Louth, Waterford and Wexford on Friday while another woman was arrested in Wexford yesterday.

4. #BANKS: AIB and Bank of Ireland will refund €100 million after they “systematically” ripped off customers, reports the Sunday Tribune. The two banks and at least two other financial institutions face investigation for overcharging after whistleblowers gave evidence to the Financial Regulator.

5. #BUDGET: Brian Lenihan will increase both the standard and higher rates of income tax by up to two per cent, while the figure for the savings to be made in the budget is now put at €4.6 billion according to The Sunday Times.

6. #NORTH KOREA: North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Il appeared on television overnight with his son and likely heir Kim Jong-Un, further adding to the speculation that Kim Jong-Un will succeed the ailing leader.

7. #EMBRYO: A baby has been born from an embryo frozen for nearly 20 years, reports The Sunday Times. The baby’s mother, now 42, had undergone ten years of unsuccessful infertility treatment but was given the embryo last year.

8. #CF: A 14 year-old Wexford girl with Cystic Fibrosis speaks in the Irish Daily Mail on Sunday today after intense pressure on the government to aid CF sufferers, saying “how many of us have to die before you do the right thing?”

9. #LIGHTHOUSES: Ireland and the UK have become involved in a diplomatic row over British subsidies to Irish lighthouses which date back to 1924. The UK Department of Transport, as part of planned budget cuts, has written to his Irish counterpart seeking a cut in the payment to the Commissioners of Irish Lights.