The Cost of Living in Dublin, Ireland

In all honesty, the cost of living in Dublin is very very expensive. There are ways to save money by shopping for groceries in Lidl and Aldi and taking public transport or just walking from A to B.  Even though it’s expensive, it’s hard not to LOVE  it. It’s a fun, vibrant and multicultural city. Dublin is spoiled for choice for food and there’s probably one pub for every 20 people! Dublin’s free green spaces are beautiful retreats from the concrete and traffic and its stunning architecture truly reflects its position as the British Empire’s second city back in the 18th Century. It’s cliché to say but you’ll feel completely welcome and greeted with smiles from Dubliners every day and you’ll never be stuck for help, directions or whatever you’re looking for.

Food

The sad news about the shopping experience in Dublin is that all shops close very early. Sad! Grocery shops are closing at 8 PM and shopping centres around 7-8 PM. So for example, if you want to go and buy some food after work when you get back home, you have to know exactly where to find shops which have late hours. By late I mean 10 PM, which is nothing compare to Kyiv 24/7 working hours. For example, Tesco is opened till 10 PM, Lidl – 8 PM, other local shops – 5-7 PM.

Prices for food are reasonably good. You can buy a litre of milk for 75 cents, a bread €0.8-3.0, a bottle of wine for €8-12, beer for €2-5 per bottle/can, chicken a half kilogram for €3 and caviar for €20-30 per 50-100 gram.

The weekly food shopping can be €30-50 if you live alone and €40-80 for a couple.

Rent

Renting an apartment or house in Dublin is extremely expensive. It can take up to 1/3 of your monthly income. The minimum rent you can find is around 900-1100 for a Studio apartment. If you consider having a one-bedroom apartment the rent is around €1400-€1700. For the two-bedroom apartment or house, you can find the price of around €1500-2000 per month.

The rent usually excludes the monthly bills such as water, gas and electricity, so you have to pay yourself. The prices for the extra utilities are €80-200 for electricity which should be paid every 2 months, internet – €50-70/month, TV license if you watch TV – €160/year. For some houses, the recycling fee is also included. All bills are paid via websites as direct transfers.

Transport

Surprise, even transportation is expensive. There are buses, trams, trains, and taxis in the city. Buses cover the majority of the city districts. The price for a single bus ticket depends on the area (or a number of stops) you are planning to travel. It can be €2.10 – 3.65 if you pay in a bus by cash or €1.50 – 2.90 if you have a leap card. The prepaid leap card is a card which is used in a bus or a tram. Some companies propose a monthly tax saver card, this is a monthly leap card on a discounted rate. So instead of €180 for a monthly card, you will pay €60 deducted from your monthly salary.

The taxi price is €8-20 on average. If you order a taxi from Dublin Airport to the city centre, you will pay about €25 or so. Taxi drivers will be expecting tips and will be thankful, however, it is not mandatory, so don’t worry!!

Banks

The banking system is pretty stable. You can open a bank account very quickly. As a result, you will have a debit VISA/Maestro card, internet banking and a card reader for international transfers etc. There are a couple of banks we recommend AIB and Bank of Ireland.

When paying with your debit card in pubs, the cashier may say  “Do you want to cashback?”. This means that he/she can withdraw your money up to €200 from your debit card and give you cash. Some sort of ATM machine, but without an ATM fee. This is a very popular way of getting cash here. Otherwise, you can use an ATM machine to get cash. All card transactions are subject for an extra fee. Every 3 months you can view via internet banking a document from a bank with all fee and transactions.

Documents

First things first, make sure you have a contract with the offer and a Work Permit. These two documents are the must-have before you will move to Ireland.

Before flying to Dublin, you have to get a single-entry visa. Ireland law doesn’t allow to give a multi-entry visa outside of a country, even though you have a work permit and all legal documents which allow you to live in Ireland. The single-entry visa should be obtained in a Dublin consulate in Kyiv.

Once you are in Dublin, you should apply for a multi-entry visa. You can apply for this visa only after you get a G.N.I.B. card, this is a plastic card, which allows you to permanently live in Ireland for a period of one year. The price of GNIB is €300/year for a single person. If you plan to come with the family, multiply this amount. The multi-entry visa will cost you €100/year per person. You should pay €400 for a visa and GNIB card every year for the next 4 years.

After 4 years, you can apply for a different stamp in your GNIB card which allows you to work without a work permit. Some sort of a Green Card. The new GNIB can be given for a period of 2 years on the same €300 price. The new visa also is for 2 years for €100.

After 5 years (4 years + 1 year with new GNIB stamp) you can apply for an Irish passport. The price is around €1000 and the review process is about 12 months. You should keep all the rental contracts, bills, payslips documents to apply for a passport.

Thinking of moving to Athens? Check out more information here.

Rugile Antanaviciute

Leave a comment

%d bloggers like this: