To think that €80 for school books for a FOUR year old is a bit much.

[BarbieLovesKen]

Just a rant really, I know we're all in the same boat but for God's sake!!. DD is starting school in September, got her book list yesterday. Got all her books (exactly €79) and further €65 for her uniform today.

Havent got school bag, school shoes etc yet.

€20 for photocopying to school for the year and €20 for arts and crafts for the year.

Probably the norm for most of you and well used to this, but forgive my being so naive - shes my first to start school so I never realised before.

Feeling really sorry for all of those with more than one to send to school this year - not to mention the older children. Bit shocked really!!! blah..

We dug our own well (about 3 grand for everything)as tap water was disgusting, know alot of people who only buy bottled. Just the norm really.

Neverpush - dont mean to be nosey but did your ds have to go to A&E? they've pushed the cost up to 150 for every attendance at A&E but if you have Doctors referal letter with you your exempt as you've already had to pay 50 (or 55 in your case)

Actually Montmatre - 350 sounds really low to me for a secondary school teen - compared to what I've been told by parents I know around here.

And unfortunately Montmatre, thats true - if parents didnt have it, you went without

Went via GP through A&E with referral letter. Assume I will only have to pay for overnight stay. I laughed when the nurse asked us if we wanted a private room. Poor DH slept in the ward with DS, although at least there was a chair that folded out into a bed. In maternity hospital, there wasn't even a chair beside the bed.

I am in Dublin and I paid our 367 Euro bookbill for my 3 primary school dc this morning. Next year dc1 will be at secondary school and his bookbill will be over 250 E.

We have 2 asthmatic dc who both had bad patches recently, we spent 90 E on a family (ie 2 dc)visit to GP twice in 6 weeks and over 200E on medication for them in the same period. Need to go to chemist tomorrow for dc1 meds , medicine will be 68 E, new inhaler is 50E.

Bet you're happy you don't live here!

Oh yeah and that too neverpush!! DD was sightly asmatic when younger (thankfully appears to have gone!) but 50 for every doc trip and on one occasion I paid 120 for her prescription (as I had to get the bubble type thing for the inhalers too for small children)

Had to get drops for ds's (5 months) eye, after Docs fee paid 14 euro for drops... tut..

astmatic

Jesus Verity, you poor thing!! and the feckers took ECS and lowered CA.. really dont know how they are expecting families to actually survive these days..

I've just realised I forgot the H - what the hell is wrong with me tonight?? ah, nevermind, you know what I mean.. lol..

You just reminded me I need to pay €60 next week for my DS1, going into senior infants in September. Plus school insurance. Plus uniform.

Luckily I got DS2 into a community playschool for sept, subsidised..only €25 a week!!

We don't have a uniform, so I don't have to consider that, but will have to pay at least another 60E for various specified items of stationary then 65E each for school trips which is now paid in a lump sum at the beginning of the year rather than for each trip individually. Going back to school is nearly as expensive as Christmas!

Ireally feel for you all - that's shocking that even children don't get free healthcare? What happens if a family is really poor then? And what if, God forbid, you or your child has something serious?

Are there benefits for people out of work and so on, or not?

Has it always been this way in Ireland? I would be really interested to find out.

And does this mean you pay lower taxes I wonder? But on the whole I'd rather not have to pay for healtcare and schoolbooks for the kids.
(Although, truth be told, we don't see many schoolbooks, its mostly photocopied sheets they bring home)

If you're on benefits you get a medical card, with free healthcare. Also if you have a chronic illness you can get a medical card.

There are benefits, Jobseekers Benefit, Jobseekers Allowance, Illness Benefit, One parent family allowance. The system is far less complicated than the bizarre sounding tax credits and such that you have!

And nope, around the same taxes as you. Higher vat and stuff too.

My 5 yo old son reads 2 books a night, and 4 on weekends from the Oxford reading tree.

It'd cost a fortune ...

They are just put in the book bag and returned the next day.

Are they limited to a few books? How does that expand and develop their reading technique?

They must get more surely?

No they do send home readers, we get one a week. Its the workbooks/textbooks we need to buy, like the maths book and the irish book etc. We pay a contribution at the beginning of each year as well for the readers and arts supplies and photocopying etc.

can't believe it's E50 for inhaler. Even in france/spain etc where you pay for perscription sthey are about 5.

wow! Can't you get 2nd hand books or order them cheaper over internet (or was that what you did?)
I love it when they say 'voluntary contribution' yeah right..

Maryz I had forgotten about the voluntary contribution! That's 50E a month direct debited out of our account.

With regard to readers, the school uses a book rental scheme for ORT which is included in the book bill, so dc bring home 2 books a night. The books we buy are workbooks that they draw and write in and can't be passed on.

Mumbar, a ventolin inhaler is about 10E, but ds1's becotide preventer inhaler is 50E. He was put on new meds recently which make a huge difference to his asthma but cost 68E for a months supply.

I think it's outrageous that children with chronic medical conditions do not receive free healthcare, but that's the way it is. Even in the boom times the health service was patchy. If you are hospitalised the service is excellent but out patient treatment is hard to access with long waiting lists which is why most families feel the need to have private medical insurance which does not cover GP services or medication. We pay 150 a month for dh and I, we don't cover the children as we reckon it's not cost effective.

Verity, could your son not get inhalers under the long term illness scheme? Or a medical card in his own name because of the asthma?

Thats prob a becotide inhaler or something? I know my ventolin is about €9 a pop.

I don't pay the voluntary contribution. They can swing for it!

I genuinely couldn't pay it last year, so didn't. This year they haven't asked for one and the rumour is that they won't be. They have just moved into a brand new purpose built school with all mod cons.

I do give money to all fundraising schemes throughout the year, though the majority are for charity rather than the school.