Average pay has passed €1,000 a week. The figure offers some key messages about where the economy is and how households are doing
An increase in well-paid, permanent jobs in some sectors has pushed up average earnings
Cost of Living
Read more articles about the cost of living from your personal finances to the global economy
‘I’ve paid Eir €3,000 more than I needed to, can I get a refund?’
The price of being switched to an out-of-contract rate when your deal term ends can be high
How one reader was scammed through an offer of a lavish birthday hamper
Scammers replicated website of cosmetics retailer Rituals and sent email offering free birthday gift
An Aer Lingus customer trying to get €530 she is owed by airline: ‘I feel like I’m losing my mind’
Transaction would not go through on the Aer Lingus website, so the customer did it over the phone instead
Will tariffs make life even more expensive for Irish consumers?
In the News podcast: Inflation is down but prices are up, and then there are Trump’s tariffs
Is the Tesco self-scan being policed more ruthlessly?
Galway Tesco customer says she had 87 items in her shopping trolley unpacked and re-scanned by staff
Around 15% of consumers unable to cope with €1,000 financial emergency, survey finds
Shopper confidence up after cooling-off period from tariffs, but overall confidence remains ‘gloomy’, credit union poll suggests
‘I used to be trying to stretch my last €11 until pay day, now I’ve written a book about being good with money’
Better with Money with Aideen Finnegan
Auto enrolment: employers can’t afford to wait any longer for start of pension scheme
Auto enrolment has been delayed again, but that gives SMEs time to prepare their pension plan for staff, which can be a key recruitment tool
‘I am really disappointed in how Aer Lingus treats customers when things go wrong’
Some things airlines can’t control, but how they handle situations is well within their control
Earning a decent income but still scraping by? Your situation may be about to get worse
After a decade of mostly strong economic growth, many middle-income family budgets do not have a lot of slack. Now, the Government faces tough decisions
US shoppers to face price hikes as Trump tariffs hit Walmart
Consumers starting to feel effect this month, executives said, despite recent deal with China to pause the heaviest tariffs
Social welfare increases and tax reductions planned in budget to tackle cost of living, Taoiseach says
Sinn Féin leader sharply criticises decision to rule out repeat of previous payments
US tariffs could jeopardise planned tax cuts in budget, warns Minister
Budget 2026 set to be ‘very different’ from predecessors, says Neale Richmond
‘Would you like to do eight hours work for €1,500? That’s the savings I’m talking about’
Better with Money with Aideen Finnegan
‘Disrespectful’: Reader annoyed by Panda’s response to ‘unannounced’ bin plan change
Long-time Panda customer was on a pay-by-weight plan — until he discovered he’d been moved to a monthly charge without notice
An Ikea case study: A reader’s extractor hood stopped working. This is what he did next
Andy first contacted Ikea in January, but a resolution seemed further away than ever – until Pricewatch stepped in
More than half of women entrepreneurs feel financially insecure, AIB survey finds
Nearly one third of women entrepreneurs’ businesses ‘would not withstand a financial shock’
Irish inflation jumps to 2.2% as restaurant and hotel prices climb
Price increases related to higher food and alcohol prices, says CSO
Irish consumers pay almost €500 more than EU average for energy each year
Price of electricity 30% higher and domestic gas almost 10% than European standard
Supermarket prices up almost 5 per cent in 12 months new data shows
If spread over the course of a year, price hikes of that scale could add €400 to typical household’s grocery spend
Growth in Irish services sector is subdued
AIB purchasing managers index records weaker rate of expansion in April
Travel insurance and car hire for your holiday: An essential guide
Q&A: How to secure the best deals and avoid the sneaky tricks some companies try to pull
Consumers moving to own-brand products amid cost pressure, EY study shows
Irish consumers continuing to do majority of shopping in-store
Food prices continue to climb, according to inflation data
EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices shows 2% climb over the last year
‘Wrong on so many levels’: are we paying too much for our drugs to be dispensed?
A reader wonders if pharmacies’ reluctance to dispense more than a month of a longer prescription at a time is down to maximising prescription fees
The Eircom shares debacle: ‘I spent €5,000. They are now worth less than €500′
An email from frustrated shareholder Daniel raises an interesting idea about what to do about ‘nuisance’ shares and the endless paper they continue to waste
Electricity prices dip in March but are 52% higher than a year ago
Official figures show charges remained higher than last year
Decking, doughnuts and jogging: 25 fads that have been big in Ireland
When’s the last time you went for a jog? Or slipped on your decking in your slanket while listening to your ghetto blaster?
Ireland now: anxious, jumpy and no country for young men or women
Despite full employment, a new survey suggests Irish people are increasingly concerned about the economic outlook
‘I have no access to my pensions’: Overseas readers locked out of their AIB and BoI accounts
Two readers complain about being locked out of their Irish accounts from overseas. Sometimes the banks’ response can seem over the top - but not always
‘Collins Kildare’ is not the only Irish-sounding website selling suspect items
A number of readers had similar experiences with ‘Murray-Dublin’ and ‘Aidens Kildare’
Irish headline inflation rises to 2% in March
Higher prices for alcoholic drinks and food drove the slight increase in the annual rate of price growth
Fallon & Byrne owners say business now ‘self sustaining’ after loss of €564,046 in 2023
The hospitality group closed 2023 with accumulated losses of €4.7m and cash of €1.3m, according to abridged accounts just filed
Ryanair dismisses hundreds of reader baggage experiences as misinformed ‘hearsay’
We heard from hundreds of readers who insisted that what Ryanair had told us was false. Here are just some of those stories
No dress and no refund: A reader’s saga ordering clothes online from an ‘Irish’ firm that used stock images for staff photos
The Irish people behind Collins Kildare, at least according to its website, also appear to moonlight as stock photography models
Grocery price inflation surges to more than 4.5%
Sales increase at slowest pace since 2022 with greater focus on promotions and own label brands
GoCar charges almost €2,000 when rental car breaks down after 30 minutes
‘I could neither reverse nor go forward ... The following day, two sums of money, €287 and €1,650, were removed from my account’
Irish consumers adopt cautionary stance as housing costs sap investing confidence
High rents and rising house prices a top concern for nearly a quarter of survey respondents
Has Ryanair started penalising people with carry-on luggage?
The airline tell us we are ‘as usual, misinformed’ but three separate people have had the same experience
Low-income households made ‘high-risk’ changes to meet cost-of-living pressures, study finds
With difficulty accessing welfare benefits, they cut spending on essentials such as food while getting into debt to survive
Irish inflation rises slightly in March ahead of Trump tariffs
Food price inflation accelerated in the month, according to latest flash estimate
Cost of living: ‘You are going to see €5 lattes in Ireland by the end of the year’
Cost of living: our basket of goods has climbed by 33 per cent in three years
Consumers could face €1,000 increase in bills across energy, broadband and other areas from this week
Surge in costs for health insurance, energy, television, broadband and mobile phones
Migrants to Ireland hit ‘disproportionately’ by poverty after housing costs despite being better educated
One in five migrants in Ireland is ‘income poor’, and 14.5% are at risk of poverty, compared with 11% of Irish-born residents, ESRI finds
Paperless bills: Attaching a pdf to an email ‘should be mandatory’
The requirement to log into an online portal means many customers never check their bills
SSE Airtricity ‘issued me with a bill of €4,300, up from an average of about €150’
A reader saw her energy bills jump by 1,000% after a bad meter reading, while another suffered after failing to submit a reading when vacating an apartment
‘They don’t answer phones’: How Aer Lingus customer care frustrated Rosemary, Dave and Paul
A reader asks about allowances for disabled passengers, while another has since June been trying to get cancellation compensation
Over-60s can borrow against the equity in their home. But should they?
Equity release can give older people financial peace of mind or the funds for a more comfortable retirement but be careful of the terms and conditions
Why is Ireland the second most expensive place in Europe? These are 10 key areas where we pay more
Several recent studies have reinforced how expensive Ireland is in global rankings. Here are 10 key areas where we pay well above average
Living in deprivation: ‘I felt so ashamed that I couldn’t provide properly for my children’
Latest CSO figures show almost half of lone parents with children aged under 18 struggle to make ends meet
Third of households with single adult and children went into debt to meet ordinary living costs last year
CSO says 54 per cent found basic cost of housing to be a ‘heavy burden’
Grocery prices in Irish supermarkets on the way up again, new figures show
Households shopping bills have now risen by well over 20% when compared with late 2021, says Kantar Worldpanel
‘My mother (80s) is paying €2,200 on her health insurance. Could she get a cheaper plan?’
Health cover costs have only gone in one direction – up – and switching can be complicated, but it’s worth shopping around
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Stardust
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices