A quarter of Irish students struggle with debt and over half say they miss lectures in favour of paid work, writes John Hearne

There are so many decisions and new experiences facing first-year students in the next few months, it would be easy to become overwhelmed. From where to live, who to live with, what clubs to join. And that’s all before you even get to grips with the academic side and how drastically it differs from school.

More than a third of parents are still getting into debt in order to cover back-to-school costs for their children, with books and uniforms the biggest expense families face as they prepare for September.

Generic uniforms and gym gear should be introduced in schools to reduce costs for families, an education committee recommends.

A recent survey suggested Irish people don’t understand how their credit cards work, certainly not as well as they ideally should.

Most credit card owners have no idea what interest rate they pay — with more than a third estimating the interest level at between 18% and 24%.

Credit unions have again urged regulators to allow them compete in the Irish mortgage market “in a meaningful way” after the Central Bank launched a further consultation to ensure they are fully aware of the risks.

Half of parents have cut spending on their family's clothing and goods, to cope with third level costs.

The credit union sector has stabilised and lending has increased, according to the Central Bank, although it added there was still pressure on the credit union business model.

ITS membership of approximately 11,000 is drawn from Charleville, Ballyhea, Newtownshandrum, Ballagran and Effin, taking in parts of Co Cork and Co Limerick, but it seems few knew about the precarious state of Charleville Credit Union’s (CCU) finances.

The former board of Charleville Credit Union says the Central Bank should have proactively helped it to find a merger partner rather than opting to put it into liquidation.

Provisional liquidators have been appointed by the High Court to a North Cork credit union due to its distressed financial position.

Provisional liquidators have been appointed by the High Court to a Co. Cork credit union because of its distressed financial position for a number of years.

Irish Credit Unions have topped the list for customer experience for the third year in a row.

Three out of four third-level students expect to find work in Ireland when they finish their course, according to a new survey.

One in four adults is living in homes that do not suit their needs, but they cannot move on due to the current property market, a new survey has found.

Gurranabraher Credit Union (GCU) is the second credit union in Cork in less than a week to confirm it has referred investigations to both the gardaí and the Central Bank.

A credit union staff member has been dismissed after the discovery of alleged financial irregularities of up to €200,000.

GR8 Savers Week encouraging parents to talk to children about importance of money management

Credit unions have moved a step closer to adding mortgage lending to their suite of services.

A report by a leading academic has called for lending restrictions on credit unions to be eased in order to provide consumers with more mortgage options — for which there is “pent-up demand”, according to one of the sector’s biggest bodies.

Parents are forking out more than €400 a month to put a child through college, a survey has revealed.

More than half of parents are going into debt to the tune of €5,000 to fund their children’s third-level education.

IT IS six weeks until schools reopen, but parents are already bracing themselves for the expense, writes Gráinne McGuinness

It costs on average of €967 to send a child back to primary school and €1,474 for secondary school, with more than one in 10 parents cutting food bills in order to cover the costs.

The Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) has criticised the Government for failing to formally respond to its offer of a €5bn loan for social housing.

Kids shouldn’t expect to get everything they want from Santa, writes Arlene Harris

ENDA KENNY once declared that “we all went a bit mad with borrowing” during the Celtic Tiger years.

More than 80% of credit union applications, seeking the removal of lending restrictions reviewed by the Central Bank, have to date been approved as the sector battles for greater freedom to lift lending levels from a 15-year low.

Schoolbook publishers say they brought out new editions of just over one-in-50 titles last year and income from sales is down despite the continuing rise in student numbers.

Parents have been told by Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan to notify her department if schools insist they pay contributions that are supposed to be voluntary.

Parents of secondary school children are spending an average €258 on a new uniform for September.

Hard-pressed families will be forced to borrow hundreds of euros and put off paying other bills to pay for books, uniforms, and other items to send their children back to school.

The Central Bank is planning a review of the country’s credit unions across a range of areas including an assessment of the quality of their loan books and value of investments.

Teenagers get an average of €13 pocket money a week, with nearly a fifth getting more from their parents than they did a year ago.

A great man once described art as “not what you see, but what you make others see”. In other words, art requires an audience to interpret it.

The organisation representing credit unions has confirmed it is considering making mortgage loans available to its members.

There’s not a lot of information out there about second and third level scholarships. So Aileen Lee has been doing some research.

Despite one in three people believing they are better off in the run-up to this Christmas than last, more than half will still have to borrow money to cover their festive spending.

Almost one in seven adults have no disposable income left at the end of the month according to the latest What’s Left? survey from the Irish League of Credit Unions.

The value of credit union loans in arrears fell by almost a fifth in the last 12 months as the financial position of many lenders and borrowers begins to show signs of improvement.

The body tasked with regulating private investigators has no target date for introducing regulations despite being set up 10 years ago.