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The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has ruled that the European Stability Mechanism is lawful after all.

It had been considering a legal argument about whether the EU's permanent bailout fund, the ESM, was in contravention of the European Union’s Treaties.
It stemmed from a case taken earlier this year by Donegal South-West TD Thomas Pringle.

Meanwhile a deal on Greek debt has finally been done by eurozone finance ministers at the third time of asking and on both of these stories Pat was joined from the Belgian capital by Irish Times Brussels correspondent Arthur Beesley but first Tomas Pringle gave us his reaction.

For those of us fortunate enough to have a pension it’s comforting to know that an income is there to provide a financial umbrella for the future. But what if it was possible to draw down some of the cash tied up in pension pots for the here and deal with the crisis that many people face these days?

Senator Feargal Quinn who raised the issue in the Seanad recently believes that some of the vast sums of money locked up in pensions could be released as has happened in Australia and Denmark.

Senator Quinn joined Pat as did Ciaran Phelan of the Irish Brokers Association.

On Thursday, the Rotunda Hospital will hold a conference about new healthcare research that's been developed by the North Dublin Hospital Group - a collaboration team drawn from the Rotunda, Cappagh, Temple Street and the Mater hospitals combining maternity, paediatric, adult and geriatric care.

The Master of the Rotunda Hospital, Dr. Sam Coulter Smith, is Chair of the North Dublin Hospital Group and given the recent issues around health and hospitals, particularly following the death of Savita Halappanavar, it comes at a very apt time.

James Reilly brought the expert group report on Abortion to the cabinet this morning, Pat was joined by Fionnan Sheahan Political Editor with the Irish independent.

The civil war that broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1998 reeked havoc on the country but fighting still rumbles on in the eastern part of the country and its creating a grave humanitarian situation as hundreds of thousands try to flee the trouble areas to over-crowded camps.

Christina Corbett of Oxfam international is in the area and he joined Pat on the line for an update on the situation.

In 1918, Irish Republicans who were locked up in Lincoln Prison began hatching a plan to escape. The internees, among them, Eamon de Valera, had been accused of conspiring with Germany against Britain during the First World War and were imprisoned without trial under what became known as the German Plot. The idea of escape was not so unusual. However, the plan itself was. One of the prisoners, Peter DeLoughry from Kilkenny, decided that the best way to make an escape was, simply, to walk out of the jail. This is what they did.

Declan Dunne, has written a biography of his grand-father, Peter’s Key – Peter DeLoughry and the fight for Irish independence which describes in detail how the escape was planned and executed by using previously unpublished material including contemporary accounts from the prisoners and British secret service documents.

Education minister Ruairi Quinn must often wish that he’d never even heard of SUSI. It’s of course the much heralded online grant applications system which promised so much but has so far delivered very little. So far, only 3,000 students out of 66,000 have received their grants. So where has it all gone wrong and what’s being done to get it back on track? Also in the world of education – we’re approaching the CAO application season for 2013 and career guidance teacher Brian Mooney was with Pat this morning.