Money Guide Ireland

It will soon be payday – and online shoppers can take advantage of a  20% discount code on  all Fashion and Homeware at the Debenhams Ireland website. Just enter the promotional voucher code TH96 at checkout   – this code can be used until  10/02/2012.  Visit Debenhams Here

More discount codes here

Back in September 2011  the government released some brief outlines of the proposed charges on Septic Tanks.  Many people referred to this as the “Septic Tank Tax”.

There have been delays getting the  Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 through the Dail – but it was finally passed today.
It is going to mean yet another charge on top of the Household Tax for many rural homeowners.

This  legislation  provides for a registration and inspection system for septic tanks which is required to address a European Court of Justice ruling against Ireland.

Septic Tank Inspections under the new system are expected to begin in 2013 and will involve checking as many as 400,000 septic tanks and waste treatment plants.  (At least it might create a few jobs)

The main features of this proposed legislation are:

- All householders with septic tanks and other on-site systems will be required to register details of their system with the relevant local authority and a national register will be compiled and held by the EPA;

- Householders will be required to pay a  registration fee (A charge of  €50 is envisaged);

- Following the initial registration, householders will not be required to re-register their systems for several years – an interval of 5 years is envisaged between each registration; (No clarification is given on payment of re-registration fees)

- The revenue generated will be used to fund the delivery of a national inspection plan which will be developed by the EPA and its roll-out will be managed by the local authorities;

- Septic Tank Inspections will be concentrated on areas with higher risk to the environment and public health, they will also be carried out in lower risk areas but at a lower rate;

- Inspections may give rise to householders being advised to improve the maintenance of their systems or, in more serious situations, may require the upgrading or remediation of the treatment system.
The minister for the Environment staed in the Dail that he would ” do everything possible to ensure people do not experience financial hardship”.

If a householder is advised that their septic tank requires upgrading – they may appeal and apply for a re-inspection . This appeal will incur a fee – (not exceeding €200)

Note – Anyone who wants to apply to become a registered inspector of septic tanks  will also have to pay an application fee. (Not exceeding €1000 )

Proposed new Insolvency laws in Ireland will allow for the full write off of  certain debts under €20,000  with a Debt Relief Certificate or DRC.
The changes are expected to come into force in the first half of 2012.

A Debt Relief Certificate will apply  to unsecured debts only – so mortgages will not be covered. It will cover debts such as  Bank Overdrafts , Rent, Credit Cards, Personal Loans  , Gas, Electricity Phone .
Debts over €20k will be dealt with by a Debt Settlement Arrangement

(Mortgage debts will be covered by a Personal Insolvency Arrangement)

To be eligible for a DRC – the debtor
1)  Cannot have more than  €60  a month disposable income (after payment of normal household expenses and payments in respect of any other excluded debts such as mortgages).

2) Cannot have  assets or  savings worth more than €400.(So homeowners will be excluded) . (Assets do not include:  a) any household equipment such as bedding, clothing and furniture ; (b) tools, books and other items of equipment used by the person in their job or business ; c)  a single car worth less than €1200 )

Applications for a Debt Relief Certificate will be handled by a new body called the Insolvency Service . Applications will have to be made through authorised intermediaries  and will cost €90 . The fee is to pay the Insolvency Service.  (How will someone with serious debts be able to afford this?)

Once a Debt Relief Certificate has been issued by the Insolvency Service- any creditors listed on the  certificate who are owed money cannot  start  any action or other legal proceedings  to recover  the debt.

At the end of a  moratorium period – (expected to be a year) -  the debtor will be  discharged from all the  debts specified in the debt relief certificate (including all interest, penalties and other sums whichmay have become payable since the application date

A person who is granted a Debt Relief Certificate cannot apply for another  DRC for  6 years.  A person can only ever obtain two DRCs in their lifetime.  They will

New Personal Insolvency  legislation for Ireland is being promised by the government before the end of April 2012. It is something that the IMF and EU demanded as part of the bailout agreement.
Debt forgiveness has been  discussed many times over recent years – and now this bill will  hopefully help to address some of the  financial difficulties that many people in Ireland are experiencing .

There are going to be three main types of debt settlement systems that will not involve going to court.

1)  Debt Relief Certificate  or DRC – which will allow for the full write-off of  smaller qualifying unsecured debts of  up to €20,000, after a one-year period.  Applicants will need to be unable to pay the debts because their disposable income is less than €60 a month and their assets and savings are less then €400.  Applicants will have to go through an approved intermediary and  pay a processing fee of €90. See more about Debt Relief Certificates here

2)   Debt Settlement Arrangement  or DSA  which caters for the agreed settlement  of larger unsecured debt of €20,001 or more.
It will involve agreeing the repayment of some or all of the debts. At the satisfactory conclusion of the DSA after 5 years, all the  debts covered by it would be discharged in full. A  DSA will have to be prepared by a personal insolvency trustee.

3)  Personal Insolvency Arrangement  (PIA) which is for the agreed settlement of both secured and unsecured debt of €20,001 and over. It allows for  unsecured loans to be completely settled over a six year period.

The treatment of mortgages and other secured loans is more flexible.  They can be settled over a six year period (e.g. where there is a sale of the property) or restructured and continue in existence beyond the six years  period (e.g. write-down of some of the loan principal, or deferred interest )

A PIA also has to be prepared by a personal insolvency trustee.
The option of Bankruptcy will still be available through a legal process BUT  the  automatic discharge from bankruptcy will be reduced  to 3 years instead of  the current 12 years (subject to certain conditions)

Prepay Mobile phone  charges in Ireland  – which  network is the cheapest ?

Everyone reading this probably has a mobile phone  -  we are in constant touch with friends and family – but this convenience has  a price.
A sizeable portion of the Irish population use pre-Pay or Pay as You Go phones – but  it is very easy to keep getting those €10 Euro top ups at the supermarket and lose track of exactly how much the phone usage is costing you.

The cheapest  pre-pay deal at the moment for people who like to use their mobile to make lots of calls  – is from Meteor.  They have a PAYG deal – where if you top up by €30 in one go – you get FREE calls to any network all month.
This “Meteor Anytime Choice Free Any Network Talk “  is “for life” – but you need to sign up by  January 31st 2012.   You can join Meteor Online Here
( There is a cap of 5,000 minutes of calls per month – - but that is 166 mins a day – so it would be hard to reach that limit).
The €30 credit can then be used for texts and internet. You would get 300 texts for that or you could use  50Mb of data every day for 30 days. (i.e 1.5Gb)
Someone making 30 minutes of calls a day and sending 10 text messages a day would just need to top up by €30 a month on this Meteor plan.

The same  usage on some other prepay networks would cost anything from €200 a month to €470.
The cheapest bill pay deal that would give you 30 mins talk time a day  on any network and 300 texts a month would be from Tesco at €50 a month.

See our article about  Lowest Prepay Data Charges on Mobiles in Ireland

New  online customers  at Tesco can   get €10 off their first  grocery shop at Tesco.ie when they  spend over €60 . This discount code offer is available  until 1st July 2012.

Visit Tesco Ireland Here , register and use  the eCoupon code RXXMPFL at the online grocery checkout

Tesco.ie  delivery areas cover  about 85% of the population of Ireland. So don’t assume that because you live in a rural location that  Tesco won’t deliver to your village – you might be pleasantly surprised.

When you register at Tesco.ie – they will accept any address in Ireland – but not all addresses are covered by Tesco Deliveries.  You should  register first – then go to “Start Shopping”  if you don’t get an error message then that means  Tesco will deliver to your home.

Delivery charges at Tesco.ie range from €4 to €7   – but that includes them doing all the shopping for you. packing the boxes and delivery to to your door. Well worth it !

More  Online Discount Codes Here

About half the Credit Unions in Ireland are currently under some kind of restriction on the loans they can provide.

The imposition of lending restrictions is the responsibility of the Registrar of Credit Unions, who is the independent regulator for credit unions.

The Registrar has had to put lending restrictions in place at Credit Unions in order to protect the savings of members and to ensure that credit unions focus on risks when making lending decisions.

According to the Minister for Finance in a written reply to a question -about  50% of all Irish credit unions are currently subject to lending restrictions.
Of the credit unions with lending restrictions  -  about  65% are allowed to  lend €20,000 or more to an individual member. Just under  3% of credit unions are restricted to loans of less than €10,000 to an individual member, and less than 1% of credit unions are restricted to lending less than €5,000 per member.

Credit Unions have come under the spotlight in recent months – and the government have had to put aside €250 Million to help them out. One Credit Union in Newbridge , Kildare – had a special manager appointed this month to try and sort out problems. The  Central Bank took over the running of the third-largest credit union in Ireland becsue of  fears that it had not set aside enough money to cover potential losses from property-related loans.

Milano  have  a discount  offer code for 2012  – which is valid until 9th Februaryy 2012 -  and can be used any day except Saturdays.
The latest offer gets diners at Milano restaurants any main course for €3 when you buy another full priced main course.
They used to do a buy one get one free – but they seem to be getting a bit tighter on the offers.

Get the latest Milano Offer Code here

More Online Discounts Here