Small and Medium Enterprises are expecting a substantial package of measures in the budget to deal with the increase in energy costs.
ISME says its aware of businesses that are facing cost increases of 100% or more in their monthly bills.
It says the businesses most affected are in retail, distribution, hospitality, manufacturing and food processing.
****
A charity supporting older people has said a €12 increase in the state pension will leave them worse off.
That's according to Age Action, which says the increase is a cut in the living standards of the elderly.
The €12 increase is expected to be announced in today's budget.
*****
The family of a Cavan woman, missing in Portugal, is calling on the Justice Minister and the gardai to get involved in the case.
41-year-old Jean Tighe vanished near Lisbon over two years ago, while travelling.
Her sister Leona says she 'fears the worst', and claims there have been shortcomings in the Portuguese police's investigation.
****
The results from Russia's so-called "sham referendums" in four areas of eastern Ukraine are to be revealed later.
Polls on joining the Russian Federation have been held in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces.
They've been widely condemned as illegal by the west, with the UK announcing dozens of sanctions.
