Do you know where I could get more info to do the costings to see if it is worth it? I could organise 12 months work if it was worth it.
They take a certain percentage of your pay- just like here.
There is a fundamental difference between Irish and German PRSI. In Ireland, you get a class A stamp or something- regardless how much weekly PRSI you paid. Every class A stamp gets you the same amount of pension later. One class A stamp will get you under the TCA system 1/2080 of the full pension.
In the German system you get what you pay. The higher your PRSI payment, the higher your pension. So your pay decides already how much pension you get later. A low paid job will give you very little- while a highly paid job will get you umpteen times the amount you get for a low paid job.
The German average wage will get you after 40 years about Euro 1600 per month.
It is impossible to tell you how much your 5 years are worth. There are a lot of other factors( time in education, illness, unemployment ,etc.) which will be only taken into consideration when you apply for your pension.
There is one way to get an idea what you could get. You need the pay slips from your German employment and find out your gross yearly income from those years you want to know about. Put all figures in the year's brackets on this page- and the page does the calculation for you.
Dieser genaue Rentenrechner berechnet Ihren Rentenanspruch aus der gesetzlichen deutschen Rentenversicherung (DRV). Welche Rente erhalten Sie im Alter?
n-heydorn.de
The other way is an account audit of your German social security account. You need to hand in your German social security number and make an application for an audit. I am not sure where you have to go to. You always can sent an email to DRV and ask.
The audit process can take many years. In the end you know the amount of pension points you accrued so far. That way you can calculate your pension as well.