An au pair is in charge of taking care of the children. He or she will get food and accommodation provided by the family free of charge, and a small allowance in addition (like pocket money). The family must also allow the au pair their time off. Most of the time, the main reason for coming to Dublin is:

• To become fluent in English and get experience abroad.
• Have the unique opportunity to live the Irish culture and lifestyle first hand

During their time off, the au pair is free to do whatever she wants to do: learning English at school, being lazy in Dublin or explore Ireland and travel around.

Au pairs are not professional child minders and will not be a qualified nanny. Au pairs should not be responsible for children under 2 years of age.

There are no set conditions to becoming an au pair in Dublin. However, females are commonly prefered (there are male au pairs too... but it's rare) between 19 and 30, and citizens of the European Union (in order to avoid visa problems), experience with children is likely to be demanded and a conversational level of English. The minimum period is 2 months and the au pair cannot stay more than 2 years.

What the au pair must know

She will have to take care of the children and as such:

• speak the language, at least enough to understand and converse,
• be sure they get up on time; dress them; make sure they get dressed themselves,
• take them to school/nursery/activity classes...,
• play with them,
• be in charge of their meals,
• tidy up their rooms,
• be free to baby-sit them if needed, sometimes in the evenings.

What the family has to do

The family has to welcome the au pair by realising that she is not an employee but a home help for the children. Therefore they will make sure:

• the au pair must have her own bedroom,
• the au pair will work a maximum of 25-30 hours per week She should have minimum 2 days (2 x 24 hours) off during the week (ensuring the au-pair has her agreed free time and days off ),
• that they understand that having an au pair doesn't mean having someone who is going to do the housework, the dishes....etc. However au pairs may be asked to do some housework, especially related to the children,
• the family pay an allowance (pocket money) each week (usually about 80 euros),

Some addresses...

If you want to register as an au pair or as a family, you can contact:

• IAPA (International Au Pair Association): http://www.iapa.org
• IAPO (International Au Pair Organisation): http://www.au-pair.org

You can also consult:

• Au Pair In Ireland : http://www.aupairireland.com/
• Au pairs For Ireland : http://www.aupairs4ireland.com/
• AFJE (England, Irlande, Spain, Italy, Germany, France) - http://www.afje-paris.org
• Butterfly et Papillon (Ireland, England, Spain, Italy, Germany, USA, Australia)- http://www.butterfly-papillon.com
• AuPair Search (all) - http://www.aupairsearch.com
• Easy Langues (Ireland, England) - http://www.centre-easylangues.com
• GOELANGUES (Ireland, England, Spain, Italy, Germany, USA) - http://www.goelangues.org
• GreatAuPair (serving 140+ countries) - http://www.greataupair.com

Usually agencies will ask for registration fees from the family, the au pair or both.

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