Newbie needing advice on claiming an Irish pension when living in the UK

Hi All, I'm new to the forum and would like your advice please!
My mum is Irish, she lived in Ireland til she was 21 years old (left school at 15 and was employed until she left). She is now 70 and claiming a UK pension but has a small mortgage and a huge amount of energy and still works part time! Is she entitled to claim any Irish pension or have her contributions added to the UK fund? I live in Australia and am having trouble getting my head round the whole thing!! A few friends have said their parents claim but I wasn't sure if it affects any other benefits (if any!!) to UK residents.

Thanks

Ozmick

Make enquires with the Pensions Services Office, College road, Sligo. Give them as much details about your mother's contribution/work record here (reference numebrs, emp[lopyers, etc.) See www.welfare.ie for more info on state pensions.

. Thanks for the help

Message for Ozmick. I am approximately your mother's age and have the same kind of history. I just wondered if your mother had made any progress? My problem is that I don't know my Irish Insurance Number and cannot remember the the names of the people I worked for (it is 50 years ago!). I would be grateful information she may have coem across.

Thanks, Monsterrace

Monsterrace; if you've lost your pps or old irish insurance number write to Client Identity Services, DSFA, Shannon Lodge, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim.

Apply for your pension through the country that you are residing in. They will request that your Irish record be sent over and the pension's service in Ireland will examine your entitlement to any pension and let you know.

So sorry for not replying sooner. I followed your advice and was successful in obtaining my Irish pps. I sent this off to Newcastle along with a form giving details of the period I worked in reland, but, having waited months I called and found that my application appeared to have gone astray. I have now re-sent this and have had a letter from Newcastle stating that this has been sent to Sligo and giving a contact number to its check progress. Thank you once again for your help, and I will let you know the outcome (if any) of this.

Message for The Beach, Welfarite and Ozmik. An update re the Irish Pension. It's come through! Though the pension is small (40 Euro per week - I think!), it will be backdated from 2003 (when I would have been 66), a lovely Christmas present and it means that, along with my UK pension, I will be in a much better financial position

Ozmik, if your mum has not already claimed, tell her that though it can be daunting, it is worth the effort. I couldn't recall all the places I had worked, but I sent an accompanying letter explaining this and giving as many details as I could remember, ie, the name of the companies, street names, VERY approximate dates, etc. From your message it appears your mother worked in Ireland for about the same amount of time as I did. With regard to whether it will affect any other benefits, I shouldn't think so; obviously there will be tax to pay if the combined pensions and salary from the part-time job are above the tax allowance.

Thank you all for your help, this forum was the only place that I got any information about claiming a pension. Such a shame as i am sure there are a lot of Irish people in my age group who emigrated in the 50's who won't have this help.

Thanks for the feedback, Monsterrace! It's great to hear successful outcomes!