EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you kick off your day…

1. #PROPERTY TAX: Legislation to introduce a new property tax on homes was passed by the Dáil last night by 85 votes to 47. The Government projects that the new tax will bring in €250 million next year, when it takes effect in July, and will reap €500 million every year thereafter.

2. #ABORTION: A Roman Catholic bishop, Leo O’Reilly, has expressed fears that the government’s plans to introduce new laws allowing abortion will eventually led to the provision of abortion services on demand – describing the moves as “the first step on the road to a culture of death”. However, in a statement yesterday, the Government said the decision to legislate would remove a “chilling effect” on the ability of doctors to make clear decisions about when their patients could undergo abortions, and whether they were empowered to administer them.

3. #HOMELESSNESS: The Simon Community of Ireland has called on the Government to address the country’s homeless crisis, with the organisation’s annual report revealing that the number of people sleeping rough in Dublin  has risen 20 per cent in the past six months.

4. #GALLAGHER: The mother of Erin and Shannon Gallagher, who both died by suicide within six weeks of one another, is to launch legal action against Donegal Vocational Education Committee for negligence and breach of duty. Lorraine Gallagher claims her daughter Erin was repeatedly bullied at school.

5. #INSTAGRAM: The co-founder of photo app Instagram has said the company has no intention of selling users’ photos to third parties, in response to yesterday’s backlash over new terms of service. Many interpreted the change to the wording of the terms of service as a notice that the company would sell uploaded photos and related data – but Kevin Systrom has insisted this was not the case and said Instagram would remove the language in the new policy.

6. #HOSPITALS: Overcrowding in hospital emergency departments yesterday reached a seven-month high, with 340 patients across the country being placed on trolleys when seeking treatment.

7. #ESA: The European Space Agency has granted NUI Galway funding of €500,000 for a new ash cloud research project, which aims to avoid a repeat of the air travel disruption in 2010/2011 as a result of a volcanic eruption in Iceland, RTE reports.

8. #NEWTOWN: Most children in the Connecticut town of Newtown have returned to classes for the first time since last week’s massacre, but survivors of the shooting remain at home and their school remains a crime scene. President Barack Obama had thrown his support behind a campaign to reintroduce a ban on assault weapons in the aftermath of the tragedy.

9. #CONSULATE ATTACK: A report into the attack on the US consulate in September, which resulted in the deaths of the US ambassador and several other Americans, has concluded that security at the compound was “grossly inadequate”, reports the BBC.