Can you pay into the state contributory pension while you are working abroad?

C

clueless

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I was wondering if it is possible to pay into the state pension while working abroad. I don't have a pension now and someone suggested it might be possible to pay into the state pension even though I am working abroad at the moment. Is that possible?
 
You can become a voluntary PRSI contributor and thus improve your PRSI record while you are outside the PRSI net. It is generally not worth it though but if you contact your local social welfare office they can assist with this.

You should check the following first:

1) Are you not paying some sort of social insurance in the foreign country and thus accruing some state benefit over there? If you are in the EU your EU social insurance could count towards the Irish PRSI for state pension. You in effect accrue it to Ireland rather than recieving a future state pension from the EU country.
2) Is it possible to start a pension in that country?
3) Will you be coming back to Ireland in the future to work? Maybe you could save funds now for a future pension contribution?
4) You can always put away funds for retirement in a personal capacity.
 
Thanks for the reply. In answer to your questions:
1. I'm not in the EU and there is no social insurance where I am at the moment.
2. Even if it were possible I would not start a pension here.
3. I have no idea if I would be returning to Ireland to work in the future.
4. I'm worried that a private pebsion might be obliterated by another crash and if my hopefully future savings lost value over time I would be left with nothing to live on.

Can I ask why it would not be worth paying in the PRSI contributions?
 
I was a public servant. My last job was in 2013. Is there a time limit on when you could contribute? Not sure what rate I would have been on at the time. Would paying the contributions alter my previous pension. Thanks. I'll have a look.
 
Last edited:
It's all in that link.

Here is relevant bit to the time question and minimum amount of contributions.

  • Have at least 520 PRSI contributions paid under compulsory insurance in either employment or self-employment
  • Apply to make your voluntary contribution within 60 months (5 years) of the end of the last completed tax year (contribution year) during which you last paid compulsory insurance or you were last awarded a credited contribution
 
Is the criteria for pension contributions not changing? I know it used to be once you had 520 contributions you got a full contributory pension. I thought it changed you needed an average of 40 from when you started working until you are due to retire?
 
Under the current rules you must have a minimum of 520 paid contributions to get the minimum pension (40%). To get the max pension (€248.30) you must have an average of 48 paid/ credited contributions per annum from when you first entered the workforce to age 66. In between, there is a 5 point scale depending on your average number of contributions - eg if your average is between 40 and 47 you get a 98% Pension, if between 30 and 39 you get a 90% pension.
This is due to change in 2020 (more likely 2021) to a system of 1/40 of the State Pension for each year (52 weeks) you contribute. So in future (based on the proposed structure - yet to be confirmed) you will need 40 years of contributions (2080 contributions in total) to get the full State Pension.
 
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