Moving from Scotland to Ireland

shivers91

Okay so might be a long one and I'm not sure if it's in the right place...
My husband and I are from and live in Scotland (Lanarkshire). My mother is from Dublin and I hold an Irish passport (have never had a UK one), my husband has a UK one and so do both our daughters however my mother would like to add them to the foreign births register to then get them Irish passports. 
We've just returned from two weeks in Co. Waterford where my Irish family have a holiday house. We've been on holiday there countless times before but this year we just didn't want to come home. With Brexit and the poor state of the pound etc right now we truly believe that our family's prospects would be a million times better in the Republic. 
My question is how do we go about it? What do we need to do in order to move over? Is it better to get a house first (renting) or look for a job first? I already have a bank account with Permanent TSB so that's a plus right?
My husband has an art degree but works in IT - technical support side at the moment but has experience in facilities management - and I have a qualification as an ESA (classroom assistant) and am going into my third and final year of a BA in Community Education. We obviously wouldn't be moving until I completed uni next April but want to set serious plans in motion. To work in Education do I need to be fluent in Irish? 
We have family in Waterford and Dublin, and are looking at the Waterford area and surrounding but ultimately will go where the jobs are. We also haven't got a the strongest credit ratings but are working to fix that. Do you need guarantors for rented accomodation? Especially if coming over possibly with no secure employment?

Thanks

Ernie84

Ill warn u of one thing right now...two words...car insurance.

What you pay 1000 p/yr for in Scotland you pay 2 to 3000 here.

Just moved here myself from Fife and its been the biggest financial hurdle at present. Having said that I've only had licence a couple years but pls budget it with caution.

Beside that as you know as an EU citizen and from UK you can pretty much roll up and work here.

You will need to get a PPS number (for tax purposes) and I've found it a little difficult to juggle getting a car, job, PPS number (you need a job acceptance letter to acquire the number) and register as living here simultaneously.

best advice is to pop into a citizens advice here in Ireland and they'll go through the best way to go through the processes.

philderbeast

A few things you may need to consider before you do decide on this.

You will need to think about setting up health insurance which can be expensive. Car insurance is not cheap. If you are planning on moving to Dublin rent can be extremely expensive and can be difficult to find something suitable for a family. The rental market is competitive and due to the part 4 tenancy agreements landlords do not want to take risks on tenants especially if they are not employed.

I'm no expert on Waterford but I would imagine if your husband is looking an IT role then Dublin would be his best bet. Not sure about classroom assistant but you definitely need an Irish qualification to be a primary school teacher.

I moved from the UK 2 years ago and as much as I like it here I miss certain things like the NHS, cheap car tax,insurance & cheap rent.

shivers91

Thanks for your replies, car insurance certainly not something I'd even considered! I don't drive but my husband does (4 years) and I will need to seriously look at learning myself. I know about healthcare , although not looked into costs yet.

Here in Scotland even with us both working we were still entitled to some in work benefits i.e. tax credits and then our child benefit, do provisions such as them exist? All I can see is tax allowances for married couples when I'm looking online.

Thanks again!

Ernie84

Im pretty sure child payments still exist and as with uk you get whether employed or not.

My best advise still stands, if you serious about moving, pop over during week, cheap ryan air return flights, go into a citizens advice with every question you can imagine and take that info back home. Just my opinion but always better to speak to someone face to face.

DesperateDan

Rents will be substantially cheaper in Waterford and I'm sure there's IT support work down there. I wouldn't move over unless you had a job to come over to because Ireland is still not back on it's feet since the mid-2000s.

I would consider moving to an in-between town like Cahir, New Ross, or Youghal so you have Wexford or Cork within a commutable distance as well as Waterford. Rent will be a lot more normal in places like that. Daft.ie is the largest site for properties.

Aside from cartel like car insurance the only other thing I would be aware of if you make the move is the Church's grip on this country - it could be a hurdle to get children in to a very busy Catholic school if that's the most convenient.

You need Irish for primary teaching only, assistants, special education and secondary teachers don't need it. A real downside if your children are young enough is that they will have Irish forced upon them.

I am extremely biased but despise the fact that Ireland spends a fortune and fails miserably at instilling Irish in young people for 13 years. I moved over when I was 10 but I believe should have been made to do it (3 years left in primary). Managed to escape it thankfully and got to do Classical studies in school which was actually interesting.

shivers91

Thanks for your replies.

Ernie I think we will go over without the kids one week and do that, kicking myself that we didn't while we were just over!

DesperateDan I'm not sure what you mean about the Catholic schools so apologies if I'm wrong but do you mean it's hard to get in if not baptised? If so thats no problem as we are all baptised and eldest daughter currently goes to a Catholic school.

I did think about Irish however I do believe a language is a good thing to have, I enjoyed languages in school albeit German and French but hopefully that enjoyment stretches to the kids and they show an aptitude for them.

Thanks again guys x

DesperateDan

Aye exactly the old baptism issue! Sounds like that and the teaching of Irish won't be problems for you then which is great. Only other I can think to be aware of is the general cost of living is slightly higher here as well but I'm sure you are aware of that. TV license, general taxes, groceries, doctors bills etc. I think you will find are all a little higher but not too different. Best of luck!