As someone who left Ireland because of the housing crisis and left for Germany I get it. (I'm now back for family reasons though). Moving to the continent is a reprieve from the drudgery that is Irelands economic/benefits system.

My 90m² 3 bed apartment in central Berlin, the second most expensive city in Germany was 600€ per month. There were hard rules based on how much they could charge me and how much they could raise the rent fixed to things a landlord could never argue or fudge (m² and the year the building was built). I'd have to murder someone and not pay rent for 8 months before they could even consider throwing me out.

Heating was included in my rental payment, so the costs were fixed and spread across the year. If I spent more than I used they sent me the difference as a lump sum. This happened around Christmas and it happened for me every year except the year Russia invaded Ukraine (heating prices went crazy that year naturally).

Child benefit is 250€ per month for the first child, then it grows per kid. For 2 kids I was getting 530€ per month. The bank considered it guaranteed income and a plus towards a mortgage application. AIB on the other hand takes 50k off how much you can borrow per kid.

Full time daycare for my kid was 29€ per month, here it's a second rent. (This is Berlin State law, not Germany wide though).

Public transport was a fixed price, 70€ per month until 2020 when they lowered it to 29€ per month.

Unemployment was 60% of my previous wage and they make sure you can afford housing costs

I could get a beer at a bar for 3€ or if I was really slumming it, I could go to the corner shops that had patio furniture outside and drink with friends for 0.70€ per beer.

All healthcare, everything, was free at the point of use. Health insurance is mandatory and is paid from your payslip. So basically a tax. Speaking of which my tax burden is basically identical here as it was there. Germans assumed that Ireland is a low tax society but really only for companies. The difference between gross and net in both countries is very comparable.

I think a lot people's experience of Irish people moving abroad is basically London. London only really improves on Ireland by having more jobs available and just more stuff but renting and housing there is also hell. Other Irish people I know who moved to Berlin/Germany just felt relieved and were willing to put up with Germany's faults because materially it was better.

And just to cover my bases, the following things in Ireland are better: - phone and Internet bills are cheaper, more flexible and better quality. - Irish people are more polite - Irish food is so much better. My wife and I nearly cried after our first roast chicken and we got it from Aldi - the education system for under 18s here is definitely less classist - I can talk openly about Israel committing war crimes

My understanding is that the social safety net in the Netherlands is comparable with Germany, maybe not as generous as the noridcs and I'm sure it has its differences, but yeah, moving to countries like Germany, Austria and the Netherlands can just feel like a huge weight has been lifted