To be pissed off that out of €624 I have €14 left.

[BumWiper]

Collected my child benefit this morning and after buying school books for 2DC I have ?14 left.
Which is earmarked for the tv licence.

[feckwit]

I lived in Ireland with 4 children and can certainly say that whilst the CB seems high, the cost of living is sooo high that it does not go far!

[Binfullofmaggotsonthe45]

Seems a bit of a ripoff on the price side as the pound and euro are almost comparative and a lot of retailers need to change the conversion rates.

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

Eire is a very expensive place to live. We visit, and notice the rip off prices.

[BumWiper]

Voluntary contribution is what the school ask for on top of all other payments.The reason its in commas is because they hound you until you pay.
Yes I choose to have my children but I did not choose NAMA,over inflated saleries for the Taoiseach and Tanasite,the state to step in to pay what the Catholic church owes its abuse victims,cuts to SN forcing us to pay for private physio and SLT.

[Ishani]

Hmm this will be all of us next year when our child benefit is scrapped, it is shit but everyones standard of living is plummeting.

[DuffytheVampireSlayer]

I live here too, ridiculously expensive. I am at the moments paying off a ?375 euro bill for DD being in hospital for 5 days. I have to pay ?120 a month for her hypoallergenic milk too.
Very hard to manage some months what with more and more charges, levies and taxes being introduced.

[BumWiper]

Not to mention that the tv license is ?160 so I am just going to have to get it next month.
Duffy thats unreal.We didnt cause the need for a bailout,but we sure are paying for it.

[icooksocks]

That equates to £560, I get £188 a month CB for 3 children. But I also get free healthcare and tax credits that add it up to over the £560 equivalent that you get. Forgive me for my ignorance-but do you get tax credits in Ireland?
As far as I'm concerned- YAB a little U to be pissed off as thats what CB is for. But I don't think the comments on how much you recieve are really nessercary. It all becomes relative in the end.

[DuffytheVampireSlayer]

Isn't there a man making cheaper books? I heard him on 2fm last week. My DC are only pre school and younger aged, so I don't know.

[BumWiper]

Some schools asked students to provide their own toilet tissue as they didnt have enough funding to supply tissue and combat the rat infestation.

[BumWiper]

No tax credits in Ireland.

[DuffytheVampireSlayer]

I know, I'm sick hearing about how greedy we all are.

[BumWiper]

I'm more pissed off that the school choose the most expensive books.Plenty of companies do similar for cheaper.

[moonbells]

wow - I thought what I just spent on (nursery) school uniform was bad until I read this... you have my sympathies!

[breatheslowly]

In the UK as far as I know, textbooks (and exercise books/copy books) are provided by the school. This means that the school buys a set and either hands them out or keeps them for classroom use. If a new edition is printed then the school would tend to keep with the old one as they have a set of them. The only books I have seen being sold are the thin revision ones at about £3 each. Surely it makes more sense for the school to own a set of books than for each new class to buy one.

[BumWiper]

For coccyx who maybe thinks that the benefits are too high:
How much are nappies in your supermarket?
How much is formula?
How much is a bottle of calpol?
How much are baby wipes?

[DuffytheVampireSlayer]

A lot of things that are done over here make no sense and could be managed better

[Sewmuchtodo]

My dh is a teacher and the school bulk buy the books from the cheapest supplier after the parents pay (so they are not out of pocket). this saves each parent a bit.

Perhaps this could be requested of your school?

Can I ask what the school can do if you don't pay the v contribution???

[BumWiper]

A set for each classroom?That would be fantastic.

But we now have 34 pupils per class/5 Junior Infant classes.Lost 4 SNA's,2 ABA teachers.Doubtful that would be implimented.

[BumWiper]

Sew they can't do anything really but they keep sending letters home with the children.Last year I only paid ?20.See the VC pays for heating,yard supervision,bins.Basics for the school to run.

[DuffytheVampireSlayer]

My friend got told that she would be given sufficient time to pay and if she really couldn't, to visit the health clinic for a subsidy. She was told that children could be excluded but that was for the book bill, not the voluntary contribution.

The uniforms are very expensive too and all seem to have special emblems. DS's preschool have a uniform, but it is not a prerequisite so I will send him in normal clothes, ?35 for a bog standard tracksuit with a badge though