Half of DPs wages are taxed

[summerfinn]

My DS got paid his first month of his new salary yesterday. Which was eleven thousand euro he go taxed half of that which only left us with only 5500 as his monthly pay. The tax is system is disgusting in the country I live in. Even with that wage it's difficult to get by these days with the cost of everything.

Can give birth to 2 children exercise whilst they are at childcare, clean and cook organic food....but too disabled too work 🧐

I don't cook my DP does, I exercise when my physical and mental health allow it. Which is sometimes three times a weeks sometimes three times a month... Are you seriously questioning a stranger's disability 🙈 good god. You have no idea how hard my life is.

as has already been pointed out OP, you get a lot for your money, you’re just ignoring those posters

You present Ireland as some sort of dystopian nightmare, a picture I just don't recognise. Of course there are problems - the housing situation being probably the most pressing - but for most people, most of the time it's a pretty decent society with a pretty high standard of living AND quality of life. You don't seem to have much of the latter, for various reasons, so I think you are focusing on what you perceive you're not getting as your due in terms of the former as a kind of distraction. I just came back from a 'wealthy' part of the United States, where high earners get to keep lots of their money but where public squalor and visible signs of poverty are everywhere. I know which kind of society I'd rather live in.

I'm Irish. I have to say I agree with the OP that Ireland has a huge amount of problems.

People at risk of homelessness.
People can't afford the sky high rents.
Ireland has an absolutely terrible health system with people on waiting lists for years. .
Everything is extremely expensive.
There are no resources in the smaller towns. I live in a smaller town. The library is the size of someone's living room. The library doesn't have seats. There is nothing to do.
The roads are terrible.
The public transport system in Ireland is horrendous. Last time I got on a train , there weren't enough seats, people were sitting on the floor.
There is no money put into improving public services in Ireland

Houses in Ireland are not more expensive, We are Irish living in the south east of England, buying in Ireland would be a doddle compared to here

I'll definitely grant you the housing/rental/homelessness crisis and it is a huge threat to society and economy on multiple fronts. I can only speak for my own experience of the health service which has been excellent but I do accept there are blockages. Everything IS extremely expensive but I have travelled for work a lot in the last few years and every one of my colleagues in a number of different countries has the same complaint, the COL crisis is seemingly universal. Our government has put in place more supports than many other countries to help tackle it and much of it is out of ANY governments hands. I live in a village and adjacent to a small town and I would say the services are really pretty good. As you mention it, the library is amazing and a real community hub. I strongly disagree that there is 'nothing to do' and even if there isn't, is it a governments job to provide these things beyond core things like funding sports facilities, libraries, halls, forest and beach amenities, etc? Public transport is weak and some roads are poor. I think a major circle that can't be squared is that we have 5 million people living spread out across a geographical area the size of England near enough. Unless you have vast wealth as a country (e.g. Norway), it is almost impossible to provide top class, state of the art public services to every citizen when they are so dispersed. We have, for example, one of the most extensive road networks in the world, serving - in global terms - virtually nobody. It is a massive generalisation - and frankly an insult to taxpayers and to the hundreds of thousands of good people working in the public service in Ireland - to make a statement like '"no money is put into improving public services in Ireland". I must have imagined the new Primary Health Care Centre and new stretch of bypass near me so. To name just two initiatives within 5 kms of me.

I live in a town in England. Our library closed 3 years ago and is now a SPAR. Our nearest library is 6 miles away.

Have you looked at Irish house prices recently? If you want to live somewhere that isn't in the back arse of nowhere with no schools or public transportation then maybe Ireland is cheaper. But if you want to live somewhere you can have a decent quality of life your looking at least 400k fir an average 3 bed semi D. A trip to A&E is a ten hour wait or more . Now imagine a trip to A&E with a sick small child and your child having to sleep on a chair in the waiting room because there aren't enough doctors or enough bed in the children's hospital. Imagine being sick and ringing your GP only to be told you can't be seen because they have no appointments. The cost of medication in Ireland is triple the price of anywhere else. I could go on and on and on.

Okay I'll change what I said from "no money is put into public services " to
"Not enough money is put into improving public services".

What part of Ireland do you live in. I live in the West of Ireland . Honestly the county that I am in, has so few public services, it's ridiculous. The library in my town is ridiculous. It is honestly about the size of someone's kitchen. You can go in it and walk around it. You can't sit down. There are no seats. It also seems to close at random days.
In the next town over from mine, the library has been permanently closed. I have to travel to a town about three towns away from me to get to a decent library. With seats. One thing I love doing is going to a library and sitting down and studying/ reading a book. I can't do that without going a long way at the moment.

The roads here are absolutely atrocious.
Public transport is terrible.

I live in the Northwest and not in any kind of hip place either! We have a fantastic library in the next town and two other very good ones within 30 minutes. You are unlucky and it's really hard when that's something important to you. As for public transport, I think when you choose to live in rural Ireland, it's never going to be abundant. We have a few buses going through a day which are well used by students and some workers but realistically, if you want to have any level of mobility, you pretty much have to have a car unless living right in a town. I think that is the norm in rural areas right across the developed world unfortunately. The bottom line is that in Ireland there are trade offs. If you live in more rural areas, you'll generally have cheaper housing but poorer services than if you lived in a big town or city.

I'm not living in rural Ireland. I live in the centre of a medium/large town. I have anxiety and can't pass a driving test, I've tried and failed the test three times. It's not possible for some people to drive.

I lived in spain for a couple of years and there was no need whatsoever to drive. Many people took the buses/trains. I went everywhere on the train or bus The buses/trains in Spain were always on time. The bus train routes went everywhere and were well connected.

Public transport in Ireland is so much worse. There are very few direct bus and train routes. The buses that do come are always at least an hour late, they are standard one hour late everywhere, or they sometimes whizz past and don't stop.

Consumer prices and rent are higher in Ireland.

But house prices and childcare costs are higher in the UK.

It's just not true to say everything is more expensive in Ireland.

I don't have to imagine. I've been in both these situations. In the UK. I can't buy my way out of it.

Sounds like house prices are the same as my town in the North. I also waited 10 hours the last time I was in a and e, with a head injury. Similar situation with GPs unless you are very good at playing fastest finger first and manage to get one of the handful emergency appointments at the GP that covers a large town and many surrounding villages. We have prescription charges yes but for most things are told to go to the pharmacy instead. We pay Council Tax and water rates. You said your partner works in IT, if you really don't like where you live, move.

A lot of this is the same as the south east

2 houses on the south coast outside Brighton both over 400k

In Brighton youre looking over 500k

A and E issues, are all over the place

Medical charges, you can get assistance with
Do you have to pay for prescriptions in Ireland?
Irish residents are entitled to either free or subsidised approved prescribed drugs and medicines and certain medical and surgical aids and appliances. Under the Drugs Payment Scheme individuals or families only pay a maximum monthly amount for the prescribed drugs, medicines or appliances they use.

it's shit for everyone, but a lot of us are dealing with it with a lot less than 5500 a month

@summerfinn genuine question OP (I'm completely ignoring the tax stuff, the perceived injustice etc. as others have dissected this very well) but why are you spending money on expensive furniture for your dad's house, rather than buying basic to do until you move out ( when you have your own place will the expensive stuff work in the new place?) and why do you drive a 2 year old Merc if you're trying to save to move out?

I'm in N.I. and I know how expensive organic food is here.
If I was saving for a house deposit I'd be living as basic a life as possible.

This is one of the most tone deaf threads I've seen on here for a long time...

Pretty similar in Bristol. Many of my (working, albeit not on anything like a six figure salary!) friends can barely afford a room in a shared house and couldn't even dream of buying. GP receptionists don't even answer the phone to tell you there's no appointments. Last time I was in A&E I got through triage but ended up on a plastic chair for 20 hours because there were no beds.

Ya know, if you want to throw a pity party competition OP.

Realise how lucky you are. And no, I am not jealous of you. I earn more than your DH.

The OP said on another thread that they had to take out money from saving for a dinner with friends because they couldn't afford it. Seems most of their friends make a lot of money and like high priced restaurants.

Honestly, your post is completely tone deaf and foolish.

Your partner's net pay should be over €6,700 per month if he is indeed earning €11,000 per month. It's likely that he is currently on emergency taxation and that his new employer hasn't yet sorted out his tax credits. Otherwise, he is likely to be putting quite a large amount into a private pension. You should also be in receipt of €240 per month child benefit.

You should consider getting yourself a job. If your partner leaves, you are in a very vulnerable position.