LAST UPDATE | 1 Dec 2020

EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you all the news you need to know as you start the day.

1. #LEVEL 3: Retailers, hairdressers, gyms, cinemas, museums and libraries are to re-open today after six weeks of closure due to Covid-19 restrictions.

2. #FISCAL WARNING: The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has warned that the Government has no long-term plan for how to fund billions in non-Covid commitments outlined as part of Budget 2021.

3. #MODERNA: Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is set to bring a memo to Cabinet today regarding plans to sign Ireland up to a fifth Covid-19 vaccine.

4. #ASSESSMENT OF NEED: An Oireachtas committee will hear that more than 6,000 children with disabilities are currently overdue an assessment of their needs. 

5. #STEPPING DOWN: The White House has confirmed that a scientific adviser to Donald Trump, who was sceptical of measures to control Covid-19, is to step down.

6. #SURVIVAL RATE: New figures from the National Cancer Registry show that the number of people living with and surviving cancer in Ireland is rising.

7. #PAT FINUCANE: The widow of a solicitor shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries in 1989 has described a decision by the British Government not to hold a public inquiry into his death as “arrogant” and “despicable”.

8. #STRIKE: Public health doctors confirmed last night that they plan to stage three days of industrial action in January.

9. #WEATHER: It will be a cloudy but dry day across the country today, apart from some isolated patches of drizzle. Highest temperatures will be between 8 and 11 degrees Celsius.