The Irish Times reports that the national minimum wage is likely to be increased by 25 cent to €9.80 an hour later this year under new proposals to be given to Government. The Low Pay Commission is expected to recommend a rise of 25 cent for adults in a report scheduled to be given to Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Regina Doherty later today  A rise of 25 cent in the national minimum wage for adults would be slightly less than the 30 cent rise recommended last year. The increase is expected to be supported by trade unions but opposed by some employer representatives.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has said that amendment votes over the Brexit White Paper in Westminster this week were "unhelpful". On Monday night, MPs in Westminster voted in favour of a law designed to create an independent customs policy after Brexit. However speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Coveney said he did not accept that the amendment made the backstop illegal. The Minister for Foreign Affairs felt that the votes were unhelpful as they confirmed how unpredictable it was in terms of how the House of Commons would vote on any final agreements that were negotiated. He also said it was not looking more likely that the UK would leave the EU with no deal. The Tánaiste added that there did not seem to be a majority in Westminster for that either. The Cabinet will discuss stepping up preparations for a hard Brexit when it meets in Co Kerry later today.

Formal approval has been given for the country's first technological university. The new university will comprise of a merger between the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), and the Tallaght and Blanchardstown institutes of technology. It is expected to be created by January of next year.

A Channel 4 Dispatches programme, which aired last night, highlighted how the social media giant Facebook, is failing to address concerns over hateful content. The undercover report found that Facebook moderators were instructed not to remove extreme, abusive or graphic content from the platform even when it violated the company's guidelines. While nudity was almost always removed, violent videos involving assaults and racially charged hate speech remained on the platform after being reported by users and reviewed by moderators. Facebook called the practices "mistakes" which do not "reflect Facebook's policies or values".

The ongoing Ryanair dispute makes headlines again this morning, following the announcement of 24 flight cancellations this Friday. Ryanair pilots will carry out their second day of industrial action on Friday 20th July, with a third strike planned for Tuesday 24th July.

Elon Musk has apologised to a British diver Vernon Unsworth who was involved in the Thai cave rescue following derogatory comments made earlier this week. Mr Musk's online rant began after rescue teams rejected the tech billionaire's offer of a mini-submarine created by his rocket company SpaceX, to help extract the boys and their coach from the labyrinth of partly flooded passages. Mr Musk's offensive twitter slur about Mr Unsworth caused Tesla's shares to fall on Monday, although they have since recovered the losses.

The Department of Housing Planning and Local Government has confirmed to Fórsa that the Government has no plans to end service level agreements between Irish Water and local authorities. The assurance came as unions prepare to meet the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) this Thursday  to outline their concerns about the future ownership and operation of water services in Ireland.

Our moment of Zen this morning is brought to us by Seal. The infamous ear worm "Kiss from a Rose" was released 24 years ago today.