First Holy Communion season is just around the corner - and costs this year are higher than ever.

But are they worth going into debt over, and how can you spend smart this communion season?

In 2019, the average Communion was estimated to cost parents €900, but with the rapid rise in inflation and the cost of goods and services, it’s likely that price tag has gone way up.

Newstalk reporter Sarah Madden spoke to the national spokesperson for the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) Karl Cronin about the issue in a report for Newstalk Breakfast.

“Typically, it would be that they have fallen behind in another bill or in another financial commitment, be it a loan repayment or a credit card repayment or something like that, because the cost of First Communion has come up in the last couple of months,” he said.

“There is an element of peer pressure, maybe someone’s getting an umbrella and gloves and maybe, ‘I want them too’.

“Or there is maybe the parent themselves is scrolling through social media and seeing the big cakes and the balloon arches and all the personalised accessories that can be bought for these types of events.

“It really isn’t fair that one person is stressed and anxious over the cost of these events, where there’s debt to be paid back in the form of a loan or a credit card for many, many months after the day has come and done.”

Hands of an elderly pensioner holding leather wallet with euro currency money. Concept of financial security in old age.

Theresa Kelly runs a communion shop in Edenmore, County Dublin, alongside her daughters.

They offer donated, new and used communion dresses, suits and accessories to families struggling with the expense.

Demand is higher than ever this year, with people travelling from as far as Monaghan.

“The first few weeks, there was a queue waiting on us every time we opened, the queue was right around” Ms Kelly said.

“Every other year you’ve seen it increasing, some of them are very hard strapped.

“We get a lot sent to us from Tusla, we get some sent to us off social welfare, then you just get the ordinary Joe-soap coming in off the street who just physically cannot afford to go in and spend huge money.”

'Very emotional'

According to Ms Kelly, she feels her service allows people an opportunity not to borrow money, but also to give their children “the same experience... that every other child is getting”.

“There was a little girl a couple of years ago and her mam had gone through a very hard breakup, her story was horrendous,” she said.

“I think she tried on every dress in the shop – but she skipped down the road.

“I mean, she got to the end of the road, she turned around and she gone, ‘I love you’."

Ms Kelly said it was "really emotional".

In the 2022 census, 69% of people in Ireland recorded their religion as Catholicism.

Main image: Catholic boys and girls receiving the sacrament of first holy communion.