EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you the five stories you need to know before you head out the door.

1. #GARDAÍ The Association of Garda Sergeants has defended the actions of four of its members who are to face disciplinary action after walking out of their annual conference during a speech by the Minister for Justice. “The Carlow-Kilkenny branch were mandated by their members and executed their right to protest by withdrawing from conference,” the association’s general secretary John Redmond said.

2. #FUEL ALLOWANCE The winter fuel allowance is to be extended following the cold snap, the government said today. The flat-rate €20 a week payment will be extended for one more week, Social Protection Minister Joan Burton said today, at a cost of €8.2 million.

3. #TAOISEACH Taoiseach Enda Kenny said today that the new personal insolvency guidelines “will not impose conditions on anyone, woman or man, to give up employment”. He made the comments in the wake of Transport Minister Leo Varadkar’s comments last night that childcare costs would have to be taken into consideration in insolvency arrangements if couples cannot meet mortgage repayments.

4. #JOB OFFER A FÁS job offer in Malta for €250 a week has been described as “outrageous” by Sinn Féin deputy Pearse Doherty. He told the Dáil that the 60-year-old unemployed man was offered a job with a Maltese company and asked, “Is the government now actively encouraging emigration?”. The Department of Social Protection said the offer was made as a result of the European Employment Service (EURES) initiative.

5. #PRISONERS A report from the Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality has called for the government to reduce prison population numbers by one-third over a 10-year period. It said it was concerned about the increase over recent years and that a ‘decarceration’ programme for non-violent prisoners would help reduce the prison population.