State pension prediction

H

Hoping

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5
I’m hoping someone here who understands pensions better than I do can help.
My working life has been split between employment in Ireland & employment in UK with the majority of my years in the UK. Laterally I was self employed in the UK and have paid up my full requirement of UK state pension contributions. I only made 305 contributions in Ireland but during the gap years in between my 2nd & 3rd Irish jobs, I was employed in UK. I am not eligible for my pension yet for a few more years until I am 66. Would anyone know if I will be eligible for a part-time Irish pension? I believe because I was employed in UK that it means I should be eligible. And roughly how much might that amount be? Many thanks!
 
Hoping said:
I only made 305 contributions in Ireland but during the gap years in between my 2nd & 3rd Irish jobs, I was employed in UK.
Click to expand...
How old are you now?

When did you last make an Irish contribution?

Do you live in the UK now?

So you have property or investment income in Ireland?

Sorry for all the questions but it will help you get better advice.
 
Thanks for your help.
I’m nearly 62.
I live in the UK now and have done since I made my last contribution in 1996.
I don’t have any property or investment income in Ireland. But I do have property in the UK. Does that make a difference?
 
Get in touch with the International Pension Centre in the UK. I can't post links but you'll find it if you google that exact phrase. You want a track called "Claim an overseas pension if you worked abroad". You'll fill in a form with your Irish details, send it off, and then whatever you're owed from Ireland will show up in your account

I believe that you will be able to get a small increase to your pension by claiming your Irish contributions pro rata. Am assuming you will retire in the UK? though am not sure it makes a difference.
 
Hi @Hoping

You could make voluntary PRSI contributions if you are UK resident and last paid PRSI in Ireland in the last five years. I think you’re out of luck here though as it’s been so long.

I don’t think your 305 Irish contributions are of any use to you in the UK as you’re already fully paid up for a UK state pension it seems. And because the 305 is less than the 520 needed to claim any state pension at all in Ireland they are effectively useless on their own.

If you took up employment or self employment in Ireland today you would get to the 520 by your 67th birthday most likely and could delay until then. I think that’s your only option to get anything in Ireland.
 
Thanks so much for your opinions. Having googled my scenario, AI has suggested I may be eligible for a pro rata Irish pension (in addition to a UK pension) simply because I have worked my gap years in the Uk through the bilateral agreement.
Here’s what AI is saying. I wonder if it is accurate.
“With 305 Irish contributions, you likely won't qualify for a full Irish State Pension (Contributory) based solely on those contributions. The full rate typically requires 2,080 contributions (equivalent to 40 years of full-rate contributions). However, the pro rata system allows your UK contributions to potentially fill in the gaps and qualify you for at least a partial pension.“
 
The qualification criteria are summarised in the link that I posted earlier.
I'm pretty sure that if your UK NI contributions/topups are qualifying you for a full UK pension then they cannot simultaneously be used to boost your Irish pension entitlements.
Be very careful when using AI to get answers to such questions.
 
My understanding is that the UK NICs will help the OP avoid or ignore the Irish requirement of a minimum 520 PRSI contributions. If he didn’t have these UK contributions he’d get nothing from Ireland.

As he does have a NICs history of at least the balance required of 215 to qualify for the Irish state pension he will get 305/2080 ths of the Irish pension benefit.

At current rates that equates to €42.42 per week, gross.
 
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Thank you for all your help. Greatly appreciated. I certainly won’t be jetting off on any proceeds but I never considered that I would ever be entitled to anything so, if I am, when the time comes, it’s a win win. It was my Irish friends who alerted me to the possibility. Every little helps!!
 
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