In my case it would give me the option to build up a PRSA AVC fund with a provider (e.g Royal London Ireland, Standard Life etc..) that offer much cheaper fees than having to pay in to an employer linked AVC scheme which in my case is Irish Life/Cornmarket.
In my HSE employment there is an option to "buy back" DB pension years but you cannot do so via partial transfer of funds from a PRSA AVC pension fund it has to be only the entire value in the fund. Then you have to forfeit anything leftover in your PRSA AVC pot after you bought back as many HSE defined benefit pension benefits as you were entitled to. The HSE will actually accept a partial transfer from an AVC fund just not a PRSA AVC. Strange rules.
It means I could ask the pension company to split one AVC PRSA into two with one pot being the exact amount I need, and no more, to buy the extra HSE benefits.
It was suggested to me to pay in to two separate policies but splitting one seems far more satisfactory. I still might have misunderstood something of course.