EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know with your first cup of coffee…

1. #CROKE PARK: A total of €650 million has been saved in public sector pay costs over the past year, according to the body tasked with overseeing the implementation of the Croke Park agreement. Staff numbers also fell by 11,500 in the year to March, with many workers choosing to avail of favourable retirement offers, RTÉ reports today.

2. #PLANNING: Opposition parties have dismissed as a “whitewash” a government report published by junior planning minister Jan O’Sullivan yesterday regarding planning irregularities in Ireland’s local councils. Critics have suggested the report, which did not find any evidence of malfeasance in any of the seven local authorities subject to inquiry, had been deliberately timed to clash with a Dáil vote on the subject.

3. #ABUSE: There was a 25 per cent increase in reports of child abuse in 2011, according to new figures released by Women’s Aid. The organisation says it received over 13,000 calls last year, with more than 2,000 of those related to direct emotional, physical and sexual abuse of children.

4. #AUSTERITY: The latest report by the EU-IMF says that Irish public opposition to proposals like the household charge is a reminder that austerity measures must be shared “fairly and equitably” across society, the Irish Times reports this morning.

5. #EDUCATION: The Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has criticised university leaders for not taking steps to ease the pressure on students applying for places in third-level institutions. Quinn said that recommendations contained in the Hyland Report, published last year, had been welcomed by universities at the time but failed to be implemented, RTÉ reports.

6. #CANCER: The World Health Organisation says it has found a direct link between fumes from diesel exhausts and cancer. The WHO has upgraded the carcinogenic risk of diesel fumes to humans to Group 1 – the highest possible – and compared the effects to those of smoking.

7. #TROLLS: The Irish government says it has no specific plans to follow the UK’s crackdown on so-called online trolls, following proposed changes to the Defamation Bill in the UK earlier this week which would give victims of anonymous abuse a way to identify those harassing them.

8. #SYRIA: The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused Russia of sending attack helicopters to Syria, warning that such a situation would “escalate the conflict quite dramatically”. Clinton also questioned whether the UN mission can survive beyond the end of its mandate in July.

9. #EARLY BIRD: Early risers are generally happier and healthier than ‘night owls’ because they generally feel more awake and alert, according to researchers at the University of Toronto. The findings showed that younger people tended to display more nocturnal habits but began rising earlier as they became older.