A new report has found that 95 per cent of Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) recipients would be financially better off in employment. However, the PUP scheme does reduce financial work incentives for the newly unemployed, the study released today by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) says. The fiscal think tank is recommending that supports be put in place to counteract the sharp drop in young people’s income once the schemes are withdrawn.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) are calling on the Government and the HSE to tackle overcrowding in hospitals. An emergency meeting of the organisation's Emergency Department Task Force is due to be held to discuss ongoing concerns over the levels of overcrowding being experienced by both patients and healthcare staff.

Nine out of 10 Irish businesses are looking to the Data Protection Commission (DPC) to issue guidelines on the collection of data about workers’ vaccination status. The calls come as 94 per cent of businesses say they have no employee vaccination strategy in place. And the majority say they have no intention of putting one in place. More on that here.

Gardaí have warned that alcohol licences are not valid for areas outside pubs and restaurants for which they were originally sought – such as new on-street dining sections. The Garda guidance came after bars and restaurants across the country rolled out on-street service as part of the re-opening of the hospitality industry earlier this month.

The proportion of newly built homes bought by institutions has increased from 5.6% in 2010 to almost a third in 2019, a report has found. This marks a six-fold increase in the last decade, the research shows.

And finally, our zen today is Hozier's 2013 hit Take Me To Church which has been included in Spotify's 'Billions Club' playlist, which only features songs to have been streamed at least one billion times.

Hozier is the only Irish artist featured on the playlist with ‘Take Me To Church’ which was the music platform’s most-streamed song of 2014. It passed the landmark billion streams in 2019 becoming the 35th song to ever do so on the streaming platform. Enjoy!