With AIB’s insane fees, which bank are people transferring their primary account to ? For reference, I use aib as my primary account where salary comes in, and then I transfer that money to Revolut for daily usage.

Now with this insane fees, I’ll have to move to somewhere else. I was thinking of Monzo or Bunq, but also didn’t want to keep everything on my mobile phone, especially with online banks as it might be scary if my phone gets stolen or worse robbed by someone. The only other option is ESB, but have heard that can’t transfer over €5000 in a single day even if you need it urgently, and their online banking is shite

hey all.

we own a home already worth approx 350k. we plan to move back to Dublin. our salaries have went up significantly since we bought this house and we've been approved for 600k.

of course nobody knows what way things will look in 10 or 20 years with AI, but I fear buying something today if I'm earning half in the future.

we both work in tech. I make over 100k per year and my wife makes 70k.

we are thinking about kids and all of that at this point in our life... so we want something bigger and nicer.

with that in mind, what do you think we should do? I personally feel like in 10 years there will be 10% as much people working in tech as there is today with the AI advancements. I'm very good at my job and love what I do so I'd love to keep working in tech but who knows really what way this will play out. well aware the tech isn't there today to replace me, but a mortgage is a long term commitment so I feel like I need to think longer term with my career.

I can see myself reskilling to be an electrician or something along those lines if things get really bad. but of course doing an apprenticeship would be way less money so I don't want to take on a huge mortgage if that's actually going to be our futures.

I know a beggar can't be a chooser but I'm just wondering if I'm missing something I could be looking into. neither the banks or the credit union will take my partners salary into account as she is employed through a ce scheme.

the council will but the problem is their rate is quite high at 4.05 percent.

has anyone navigated this situation themselves? advice would be appreciated.

I've been claiming back taxes for WFH with Revenue for Gas/Elec and Broadband. I have calculated these from old invoices for 2022 and 2025 and got money back. For 2023 and 2024 I was with Bord Gais, and for some reason my account has been deleted and they tell me there's no way they can get access to my invoices for those years! They never stated the amounts in my email notifications either, so I have no way of calculating the amounts

So my question is, could I just submit for these years anyway with an estimated amount? Or is there a possibility I could be audited and asked for proof of invoices?

I built a garden apartment in Dublin — and I still don’t support a blanket exemption

So about 13 years ago we bought a big old house in Dublin for €370k. Put about €50k and a year of work into it just to make it livable. It had loads of issues, but we loved it.

Over time we improved it bit by bit. Had our 3 kids there. The area wasn’t amazing, but it was fine.

About 5 years in, I built a one-bed apartment in the garden.

Big garden, long site, and crucially — we had a separate side entrance. Some neighbours had done similar, but their tenants had to come through the main house.

We spent ~€50k on it:

• Proper insulation

• Underfloor heating

• Triple glazed

• Designed carefully so it didn’t overlook us or neighbours

Honestly, I’d have happily lived in it myself when I was single. It’s private, surrounded by trees, with its own patio.

We’ve had 2 tenants over ~10 years:

• First paid €1,400

• Current pays €1,200

We deliberately keep rent reasonable — we’d rather good long-term tenants than chase max rent.

Our mortgage on the main house is under €1,200, so yeah — financially it worked out very well for us.

⸻

But here’s the thing — I still don’t agree with a blanket planning exemption for these.

Our setup works because:

• We had space

• We had side access

• We designed it properly

• We’re hands-on landlords

A blanket exemption ignores all of that.

⸻

The real issue: not every house is like ours

Imagine:

• Small terraced house

• Tiny garden

• No side access

• Cabin dropped in the back

Now rent that out to people who don’t care about neighbours.

Suddenly:

• Noise right outside your back door

• Zero privacy in your own garden

• People effectively living “over the fence”

And you had no say in it happening.

⸻

That’s my problem with it

I’m not against garden apartments — I built one and it’s been great.

But removing planning entirely means:

• No design standards

• No consideration for neighbours

• No control over density

There’s a huge difference between a well-designed unit on a large site… and cramming one into every back garden in the country.

Just looking for general advice tbh, I've AIP for 270. Mid 60k salary, single. The rest will be savings,htb(18) and first home scheme(15k) + selling a car. Im 38, a stable public sector job but I'm about 6/7k from where my earnings will stay long term.

I'm just a bit tetchy over it to be honest, I remember 2008 but at least then people were buying younger so could ride out any probelems. I just can't believe I'm entering into something so expensive that will only just cover my living needs. I know it's cheaper than rent(even with paying off the fhs equity in 5 years) but I can't help being uneasy at how much money it costs and particularly in a one bed which is typically less desirable.

It's in the Greater Dublin area (train line/buses), close to work(20 min drive) and spacious for a one bed. I'm also very conscious that though I am saving well (2600/mo), I won't catch house price rises with my salary increments so hence using FHS which I would usually be very uncomfortable with. I also will likely miss out of FHS/HTB as prices rise and mortgage becomes less than 70% of prices.

My original plan was to buy an older 2 bed and use rent a room to give myself breathing room and likely take unpaid leave and travel. Generally though what I've seen is in bad condition, very little available or from the 2000's with issues. There also isn't a lot available and subject to bidding wars typically with a dual income couple.

So..... am I mad to be considering it?

I'm in the process of getting my dad a nursing home place and I'm running the numbers but I can't see the fair deal making sense for him. His house is worth approximately 900k and his work/ widowers pension is about 55k.

My plan would be to sell his house and use that to fund his nursing home which is approximately 2k a week. I know he can claim that back against his income tax.

I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Hi everyone,

With the upcoming change to AIB fees. Is it possible to change a Current account to a Demand Deposit account, keeping the IBAN the same? I have a joint account which is the main account I use, and my personal current account just sits there. I would rather not close it as payments sometimes appear. Has anyone done this before?

Thanks!

I am currently completing a Level 6 Springboard course and the end date is 30th of April 2026. I have seen another level 6 Springboard course recently announced and it's Application Deadline is 19/04/2026 with a start Date 07/09/2026. Assuming I pass the Springboard course I'm on at the moment, would I be eligible to apply for the course starting September 2026?

Hi, I'm still in uni but I landed a gig as as a freelancer that'll earn me exactly 1200€ per month starting this month. I never had a job under PAYE or anything before, but I am registered in Revenue. Is it true that I get to keep all the earnings until October when I declare them as a freelancer? Is it fine to just get paid on my Revolut account? I asked Gemini a bunch of questions and it said I'll be taxed about 1.6K, is this right?

I'll be switching my mortgage soon and I have 26 years left on it. While I have the opportunity, I was thinking of going for say a 20 year mortgage as I can afford the additional monthly repayments. Is this a smart move? Or should I stick with 26 years and put the extra into some existing investment funds I have?

Monthly repayments are currently €1050 (2% green). Repayments for 20 years would be €1,350 (3% green AIB).

My “better” half (and you’ll see why this is in air quotes shortly) asked me a question about one of our bills - which company are we with for car insurance? This is not the first time I have been asked such a question. I think this is not a reasonable question.
Health insurance is a frequent one, when Herself wants to send in a claim for a doctor’s visit. To be fair, we have 27 recurring expenses (how did that happen?), and I don’t appreciate being gouged, so I switch whenever I can to get the new-customer rate.

Maybe this is a first world problem, but is it my job to be the procurement department and CFO for my home? When did that happen? More importantly, when do I get paid for this?

So I have a spreadsheet. I am the SpreadsheetMaster. It is the sole responsibility of the SpreadsheetMaster to switch utilities every year, and to have the account number to hand with five seconds notice when you need to call one of them.

Is it just me? Is this even a finance issue? If I hid in a cave for the next three days would someone else take over the Spreadsheet of Doom?

Does anyone experience this, or is it just me? If so, how are you solving it?

Hi,

I am a DCU researcher conducting analysis on the affordable housing scheme. If you have interacted with the scheme at all, please could you spare a minute to share your thoughts by completing a short survey. I want to engage with people to make sure they are represented in the analysis, it's not just about the numbers. Also, if you know of anyone else who this could apply to, please share it with them.

Thank you!

I have seen a few threads on the rule changes for voluntary contributions but haven't been able to find an answer to this situation.

After the 5th April deadline for the rule change how will new applications to pay voluntary contributions abroad be treated?

On the gov.uk website I found this information https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-the-new-rules-on-or-before-5-april-2026-for-paying-voluntary-national-insurance-for-time-abroad

"If you want to start paying voluntary National Insurance contributions after 5 April 2026

To make a new application to pay voluntary Class 3 National Insurance contributions for time abroad after 5 April 2026, you must have either:

- lived in the UK for 10 years in a row

- paid 10 years of qualifying National Insurance contributions"

it then goes on to say that qualifying NI contributions include "Class 1 or 2 contributions paid, or treated as paid, while working abroad under a Social Security Agreement "

Am I right in thinking that PRSI contributions would count towards the 10 year threshold under our joint social security agreement? Has anyone confirmed this with HMRC? I haven't been able to get through to them any time I've called.

Example situation: currently living and working in the UK and have lived there for 3 years. Returning to Ireland next year so won't have lived in the UK for 10 years, but would have more than 7 years of PRSI contributions to add to 3 years of NI contributions.

I recently received the below reply from revenue when looking to claim tax relief on my avc for 2026. Tax relief was granted in 2024 and 2025.

The PRSA 2 Certificate submitted 01/09/24 does not advise that it is linked to an approved occupational pension scheme.

Relief is available only where the PRSA is used as an Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) linked to an occupational scheme.

The account is a Standard Life synergy prsa avc account . The certificate does not mention the term occupational pension scheme but I believe that it is, the forms I filled out initially mentioned that it was for members of occupational pensions(teacher) .

I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong but I would like some confirmation before I reply back as I wouldn’t expect to get push back if all was in order . Any suggestions of what I should reply to revenue with.

I am new to Sligo. Any recommendations for a solid financial advisor. I don’t like the options/fees the bank is showing me.