South Dublin County Council has said it had established Ireland’s first publicly-owned, not-for-profit energy company to provide low-carbon heat to local community buildings after teaming up with Amazon Web Services and Fortum eNext. Excess heat from the new Amazon data centre is to heat 47,000 sq m of public sector buildings, 3,000 sq m of commercial space, and 135 affordable rental apartments in a development hailed as the first of its kind in Ireland. 

Government is expected to sign off on the Covid-19 vaccination plan later this morning and it will be published this afternoon. The first group, those aged over 65 in long-term care, are expected to receive the vaccine in January.

The Greens are expected to seek postponement of a Dáil vote on a controversial free trade agreement in order to allow for a full debate at a later date. The government is due to introduce a motion to the Dáil today proposing the ratification of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which will remove the vast majority of trade barriers between Canada and the European Union. Green TDs Nessa Hourigan and Patrick Costello had told their party's leadership that they would not back the Government in a Dáil vote on this. 

The Times reports that the annual retention fee for nurses and social care professionals to their regulatory body will not increase, under an agreement reached as part of the new public service pay accord.

Elsewhere, the organisation representing Defence Forces officer grades has claimed it was "ostracised" from the talks on a new public service pay deal, which concluded on Friday.  

Threshold and St Vincent De Paul are expected to tell an Oireachtas committee that many people in receipt of the Government's Housing Assistance Payment are struggling to pay their rents. There are roughly 59,000 households currently supported by the payment

Migrant workers generally earn nearly 13% less than national workers in high income countries, though the gap can be as high as 42% in some jurisdictions, according to the latest research from the International Labour Organisation (ILO). 

The Times reports that more than a third of Irish rivers and a quarter of lakes are failing to meet environmental quality standards due to high levels of polluting nitrates and phosphates. Read more on that here.

An finally for zen. Today brings more like a zen round-up, rather than a moment of zen. Journalist Amy O’Connor has gathered a list of some lovely, heartwarming, daft and silly things that happened during the year. Check it out here. Bród Higgins looking for belly rubs mid-event is a personal favourite.

Have a good day folks.