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..

I'm self employed too Suile, and a lone parent to boot...I am regularly pissed off that I'm not entitled to a single solitary scrap of benefit. If I was an employee on the same low wage as I'm currently on, I'd be entitled to an extra 150 Euro supplement per week, plus BTS allowance etc

I don't think the benefits are that good. There's a perception that they are!!!
The amount of threads on RC recently bitching about people on benefits is really ugly.

I envy the UK their NHS, and their capped perscription charges......

God only know why...but I read that as "capped teeth" jealous of their capped teeth

I pay the vc. I'm a single parent as well. I haven't a pot to piss in. I am with runnybottom on the vc. It's not fair to not pay it. It just means it goes up for the rest of us. that 'core' of parents who will go without some thing else in order to pay the vc.

Yes those capped teeth! gonna move to stockport for the low house prices, nhs, free school books and capped teeth!!

i am a saddo, I look on rightmove.co.uk and look up train timetables to see where they commute to. it is easier to live cheaply in the UK. I'm so broke. I am tired of being broke now. For the first year it was almost spiritual. I got a high from tightening my belt. But one day I realised, this is it for............. catch22 poverty trap, how long? and it is hard to visualise ever being comfortable. Kids dad contributes nothing.

Magalyxyx, no fun being poor I agree, and no end to it for the forseeable future as the govt are making it up as they go along I am in SoCoDu, think you are too? Lots of the mighty have fallen in these parts, fee paying schools are much easiser to get into now!

Fab I had forgotten about the swimming lessons, 65E each, I had 2 doing swimming this year.

Getting hols on weds between teachers/classroom assistants/ resource teachers I have 10 staff members to give thank you presents to.

Also in SoCoDu yes. My Dc's swimming was 70euro, and I don't want to out myself completely but my dc's schools voluntary contribution is the highest I've ever heard. [ouch face].

For thank you gifts for the teachers I am getting two boxes of chocolates from Tesco. 'Continental Selection' they look really expensive but are 2.19 !! That's it job done, the two teachers 'gifted' for under a fiver! I don't care who thinks it's tight. Really don't!

Resource teachers yes my dc had extra hours at the beginning of the year. OK, throw another box of those 2.19 chocolates in the trolley.

Partly this thread has fascinated me just for seeing a collection of Irish MNers! I would absolutely love to have free GP visits here because there have been times when I have decided not to take one or other of my two to the doctor because it's going to be e50 or e60, so I might pop into the chemist and ask for an opinion / suggestion. I know lots of people who do this too but it makes me pretty uncomfortable with myself even thought it's only happened a few times.

YANBU. I'm in the UK and am a bit to hear how much you have to spend to get a free education ... are your taxes appreciably lower?

NO!

VG we've all done that. I managed to get 30 mls of liquid ventolin out of the chemist recently, without a prescription or a trip to the doc. my bad. but I know my son, and i knew that three nights of taking ventolin would stop his night coughing fits. Asthma related of course.

btw, does every Irish child whose mother is an MNer have asthma!!?

Ow!

You have to pay in the US, too, but I don't know how much it costs because I never had children there.

My parents never had to pay for any school books, either in primary or secondary school. It came as quite a shock to the system when I got to uni and had to buy all my own books. I've not had to buy anthing like that for DS so far either. I had no idea that any schools made you buy books, assumed that all schools provided any books needed.

I was shocked to come to the UK and not have to pay for everything, or tip everyone.

And when DD1 started school, I asked other mothers where the school supply list was.

Any US school, it's about a mile long, you provide your own paper/notebooks, arts and crafts stuff, sometimes books, even things like soap/hand sanitiser.

And of course, even with health insurance, you pay, pay, pay for healthcare of any sort.

I'm amazed that so many of the non-Irish folk are at this - are you forgetting that Ireland is a different country?? Would you be so if OP was from France/Spain etc etc?

Our uniforms weren't too bad. I paid £52.50 for three logo'd tops and three logo'd sweatshirts for DD2. But DD1 can still wear the set of the same I bought her last year and DD2 will hopefully get two years of hers, too.

If not, I'll keep them for DS.

I can only speak for myself of course but I suppose I'm shocked by it because I'm so used to the system in the UK of the schools providing all the equipment that I had never given any thought to how it would be in different countries. I (obviously) wrongly assumed that if the schools here do it, it must be a fairly standard thing. Just never occurred to me that any schools before university level would ask the parents to provide all the books.

Well, true, Tidey. Coming from the UK it would be a shock.

It was to me that you didn't have to pay pay pay.

OP... i have one going in to Junior infants and one going into Senior.

All dd's books last year were workbooks so i now have to buy all the Junior infants books again (€65) plus senior infants books (€50) plus €50 for photocopying and materials, €16 for insurance, €6 for homework diaries, an as yet unknown amount for books the scool is supplying, €20 for top up bits of unifom for dd and probably €50 for ds1's uniform.

We're lucky in that we get the back to school allowance but that doesn't come in til the end of summer and all this needs to be paid for now.

Tap water here is undrinkable, the roads have detroyed the shocks on my car they're so bad, basic food for two adults and three children for a week is a minumum of €150. usually well over €200.

My dad has a serious leg injury atm and can't afford to go to the hospital/doctors with it. We're lucky and have medical cards but they've just announced even medical card holders wil be charged 50c per prescription soon. If either dp or i get work we'd lose the medical card and most of our wages would be swallowed up by his asthma and eczema prescriptions and the two kids who are under 5 differant consultants between them.

Health insurance for a family of our size is €1500... unaffordable on basic wages.

DP has been told by the 'job facilitator' he was sent to meet by social welfare to help him find work that 'There are no jobs so don't bother looking... would you like to do another course?'

This country is unlivable for the majority atm.

What shocks me the most is the difference of living in Dublin & living in the countryside , My cousin lives in Tipperary & she only pays a 1/4 of the fees i pay our dc's are the same age & both of them are going into 6th class in sept . Seems very unfair to me tbh .