It’s a drizzly, wet day. I get up relatively early (compared to last week) with a determination to be more productive. The top priorities on my agenda are career development / job search and health insurance.
But first… I just read a headline in The Guardian that Ireland surges to worst infection rate in the world with 10,100 cases per million over the seven days up to this past Sunday. There are reports that hospitals will be reaching capacity in the next few days. I’ve been doing my part by staying home!
Back to personal updates…
Career Development / Job Search
Today is the deadline for applying to a “Finance Partner” job at Trinity College Dublin that sounds like a good fit for my skills and background. It’s a temporary contract position to cover a permanent employee going on maternity leave. I have been working on my CV/resume and cover letter over the past few days, and I thought the deadline was 5:00 PM today. When I pick it back up after my usual casual routine of breakfast and reading news online, I discover that the deadline is actually 12:00 noon (!). I scramble to finalize my CV and cover letter, then get everything submitted at 11:59… whew that was close! This job posting, like most others I’ve seen, says that holding an accountancy certification is an essential requirement, so I’m setting my expectations accordingly. Once my heart rate returns to normal, I decide on making an action plan in Excel to track job postings, submission deadlines, and other career development activities such as networking, webinars, etc. My goal is to devote at minimum a couple of hours each day to career development.
Health Insurance
Now that I’ve been issued a Personal Public Service (PPS) number, at least provisionally pending an eventual in-person interview, I’m looking into Ireland’s public health insurance — known here as the “medical card scheme.”
The biggest hurtle in obtaining a medical card is establishing “ordinary residency,” i.e., you have been living in Ireland for at least a year or you intend to live here for at least one year. To establish that a person is “ordinarily resident,” the Health Service Executive (HSE) may require (from their website):
• Proof of property purchase or rental, including evidence that the property in question is the person’s principal residence
• Evidence of transfer of funds, bank accounts, pensions etc.
• A residence permit or visa
• A work permit or visa, statements from employers etc
• In some instances, the signing of an affidavit (a sworn written statement) by the applicant
Since I have Irish citizenship, a work/residence visa isn’t an issue, and my lease/letting agreement should satisfy the proof of residency requirement (along with the all-important utility bill). I could also follow through on applying for an Irish driver’s license, although that would require me to relinquish my California license.
However, it seems like establishing a bank account that’s actually based in Ireland would be helpful if not critical — the TransferWise euro account I’ve been using is technically through a bank based in Belgium. Banks in Ireland are notorious for charging bank fees. One explanation I’ve come across is that there are fewer personal banking options and therefore less competition since the 2008 global banking crisis. For example, Allied Irish Banks (AIB) is the largest bank in Ireland and appears to have the best online services. AIB charges €4.50 every quarter and a transaction fee of €0.20 on every ATM and debit card transaction (!). Apparently fees for “contactless” transactions have been suspended, but I suspect this is only temporary due to COVID.
But even if I opened a bank account based in Ireland, would I be expected to close my U.S. bank accounts entirely to satisfy the “ordinarily resident” requirement?!
I came across a nightmare story about a native born Irish citizen who was moving back from the UK in this Irish Times article from 2019 (pre-COVID): Good Lord, Ireland, you make it hard: An emigrant’s battle to become Irish again.
At any rate, I’ve continued to maintain health care insurance in the U.S. through the University of California under COBRA coverage since September 2019; I’ll be reaching the end of the 18 month COBRA coverage period soon. It has been covering a few prescription medications as well as the cost of my individual therapy sessions and DBT group sessions, so I think I’ve been getting my money’s worth from it. Meanwhile, there appears to have been a snafu with my coverage renewal in 2021 due to the University of California changing the COBRA administrator companies… in December, a new insurance card was issued to me but then I got a notice saying my coverage had been canceled (both via my mailbox service in SF). I placed a few calls last week, and it sounds like the new administrator will be sending out more materials to me soon about getting transferred over to their system, but it’s nevertheless it’s unsettling.
I don’t have any good photos of Dublin to share today, but here’s a plate of chicken korma, saag paneer, basmati and rice that I ordered from a Indian restaurant last night for dinner… I’m fortunate to live very close to lots of good options, and it usually takes 30 minutes or less for food to arrive via bike courier (Deliveroo seems to be the most reliable food delivery service here).
Until next time….
