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I can’t believe these new rules for au pairs. It’s totally au revoir to my new nose if we have to pay ours the minimum wage. It’s not like we treat the girl badly. I even made her a cup of tea last week when she finished painting the house. Do you have any advice? — Laura, Ballintemple, and not one of the ‘cosy’ cottages, before you ask.

My mother was only talking about this the other day. She wanted to know where this current generation got the idea that it’s okay to treat young foreigners like muck. I said from our parents who took in Spanish students during the 1980s and made them live on fishfingers. She wasn’t a bit happy. Luckily she couldn’t say anything because just then our au pair walked in after cutting the grass. I’d be lost without her.