Moving to Ireland from London

[shellbells12]

I am Irish been in London over 10 years and want to move back to have more of a community for my family, and also help out with caring responsibilities for both sets of parents. I have two children 5&6 so it would be an adjustment for them but they will love being able to see grandparents and cousins.
what do I need to be thinking about? Is Ireland really expensive to live in? My partner will be moving with his job so that won’t be an issue, I will be a SAHM initially until I set up my business.
please tell me everything I need to know/ do and if you made the move tell me how it’s been?!

Where in Ireland is the first and most important question.

Where In Ireland?
what industries do you work in?
will you be buying or renting?

Where in Ireland?

Sorry Republic of Ireland, we will have to rent until we get a credit rating in ireland. The where is reasonably flexible, as I won’t be working for the first 6 months. We are both from Leinster, but have a love for West Ireland. My partner needs to be able to get to an airport so close to Dublin or Shannon would be ideal- but we are used to driving 1-2 hours for airports.
they are in the media industry and I have worked in finance for the past 20 years, and not wanting to go back to that.

There’s no such thing as a good credit rating In Ireland. It’s not the same as the uk and us. Only a bad credit rating.

Will your partner be still employed in the uk or is he looking to move into Irish media industry…because I think he would struggle with that. Dublin is your best bet for media jobs but there won’t be loads I imagine. When you say media what roles do you mean?

Well Dublin is ridiculously priced for housing and rent and we have a lack of property all over the country but mainly in Dublin and the commuter counties like Meath/Louth/Kildare. Place like Leitrim are cheaper, a lot cheaper actually, and you would be about 1.5 hours from airport and near enough to the west if that is what you are looking for.

Schools might be what sways things for you. Are you religious? Do you have a thought process on if you want your kids to go to a mixed or none mixed primary, a religious one, non religious. All factors to consider.

You have lots of choice if you want to go west. Shannon airport is ideally situated with easy access to Galway, Clare Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary. Good motorway access. Look on Daft.ie to see what's available. Depends if you want to be near the coast and what your interests are.

Thanks, I think it’s prob just a credit rating. When we looked before they said we need 6 months of income in Ireland to be approved a mortgage there.

His company will move him over, so he will keep his job just do it from there. They have looked at it and already approved the move with their HR they are a global company so he can work from anywhere.

Yes that makes sense, six months of income and active savings to get a mortgage.
Has Your dh started looking for jobs? Will you have a significant deposit?

I was raised Catholic and both my kids are baptised but I’ve no preference for schools, they are in a mixed school here but I’m not precious about that
great to hear places like Leitrim don’t have as much of a housing shortage- genuinely terrified that I’ll get home and not be able to buy!! I’m from the midlands originally so not worried about the “where” so much!!

Luckily DH job is global and they have said they will move him over to an Irish contract, so that will be fine.
deposit will depend on whether we sell in London or leave it to be rented out. I’ve read here about people who didn’t sell and moved back to London as they wanted to be in Dublin and that was not possible- so it’s made me a little nervous about selling here!

Will he be paid in euros or pounds?

Euros

Just saw it’s an Irish contract do that’s good. They are very hesitant to lend when you earn in pounds.

So things that you need to know are-

when you arrive you will need to set up PPS numbers for everyone.
you will need to apply for child benefits once you have them…this form is lengthy but doable. CB is 140 per child per month.

if you buy a property you will pay property tax annually.

to apply for school places you go directly to the school.
some schools have school lunches most don’t do just assume you will have to make packed lunches.
school days are shorter for the first two years, you could decide which class they enter into. Technically they could be in the same class depending on there age in yrs and months 😂

im still thinking of other things you may need to know. Have you any specific questions?

Bills you won’t have are
council tax
water charges

Will your dh be getting health insurance through work? If not see if he can negotiate that. If he isn’t I would recommend it. It’ll probably be 500-600 per month.

The dc will get a gp visit card (so no charge for the gp)
worth applying for one for you and dh too as they are based on income vs outgoings. Eg mortgage, travel to work, other bills etc.

Thanks we are both born in Ireland, so PPSN are good - good shout!!
forgot about children’s allowance- we don’t qualify for it here so that will be great!
my 6 yo will be 7 so I’m thinking first class for him and senior infants the 5yo- he has some undiagnosed SEN stuff so I think senior infants and shorter days would suit him
Questions: is it really impossible to get a GP & dentist?

what am I not thinking about!
how much is gas and electric per month?
property tax is good to know, anything else that I won’t be expecting?

im cautiously excited!!

Glad to read if we are not aiming for Dublin ( where DP is from) that the house situation is not too bad. I prefer space over convenience ( to a point)

Amazing thank you!

I never found it hard to get a GP or a dentist for that matter. The GP visit card will need to be approved by your GP when you apply for it so we will need the GP first. I also never struggled to get an appointment. I generally get the same day or next day, but it is dependent on the area so I can’t see for where you’re going to end up what it would be like.
In terms of dental also see if there is a dental insurance that your dh’s work offers I pay for my dental insurance through work before tax so it’s a benefit in a sense. I think I pay 24 a month for me and my two dc. That entitled me to treatments that I would have to pay for in full otherwise so I tend to just pay part of it instead. However, your husband will be paying PRSI so he will be entitled to one free clean and check up a year through that. I’m not entirely sure how it works if you’re a sahm, sorry about that. And then for the kids they are entitled to get a free check up and molar sealings at around age 8, but I do find the waitlist for this is too long and so I brought mine in myself to get them done.

gas and Electric is very like the UK. It’s dependent on your house size obviously and your usage. But I would budget €150 a month for a family of four in an average house. There is a good contract with electric Ireland at the moment that gives you free electricity on a Saturday. Saved me about €50 month.

I can’t think of anything else, but also in terms of the local property tax it’s not a lot. It’s usually on average 200+ a year.

your car insurance might be higher when you arrive first because I don’t think no claims bonuses are transferable although I could be wrong on that. You can bring over your car if you have one you just have to register it and I think there’s a fee to pay but I’m unsure.

If you’re going to live rural then you will need to budget for more petrol/diesel I do find Irish people spend a lot more time in their car to get places because that’s just how the country is laid out unless you’re in a big city.

If you do end up working and setting up your own business, you will be entitled to the national childcare scheme which is a subsidy for your childcare. You’ll need to log onto the NCS portal. Of your detail details and then it will give you your award and a chick number, which you then give to your childcare and they can put in the claim.

Don't forget Knock airport in Mayo. Flights to London, Liverpool, Bristol etc. May open up different areas you could consider such as Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Leitrim

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/returning-to-ireland/

this is very helpful @shellbells12