Education

The first major expense you and your parents will have is to educate you.

Whilst there is  so called “free education” policy in Ireland, in reality no such thing exists.

True, there are no fees for public secondary education but in practice schools are underfunded from central government and will request donations from parents and expect them to participate in fund-raising ventures. Books and tuition material will have to be for as will travel to school from rural areas unless you qualify for a means-tested subsidy.

Private schools charge fees for day and boarding pupils from about €2000 to €25,000  per term.

When you enter third level education, costs rocket. Entrance fees have jumped in the past few years and in the current economic climate where the Government are practically broke from the banking crisis, one can expect these to only rise in the future. Tutorial material, travel and accommodation are hugely expensive costs in a college education. And, of course, the obligatory party lifestyle that students wholeheartedly engage in adds further to the cost!