PRSI contributions for pension abroad

rickyk

My friend was working 5 years in Ireland and has more than 260 PRSI contributions. When he moves to another EU country how he can apply for those 5 years to receive portion of the money when he retires and how much he will receive, how it is calculated? He has also more contributions in different EU countries.

coylemj

If he plans to claim a state pension in a country that has a 'Bilateral Social Security Agreement' with Ireland (not confined to the EU), he will need to supply the local social security department with his Irish PPSN number and they will verify his contribution history with our DSP. Ditto for any other country he worked in.

Jim2007

When he hits the retirement age of the first state he contributed in, he needs to apply for the pension in his country of residence. The form will include a section where he can enter details of his employment record in each of the EU/EEA/CH states. The pension agency in his state of residence will then contact each of the states he listed and obtain details of his pension entitlements and consider his situation.

If he does not qualify for a full pension in any of the states he made contributions in the agency will uses his total contributions to calculate the maximum pension he would be entitled to and apportion the payment responsibility among the states. If he qualifies for a full pension in any state, then he gets that pension plus whatever he would be entitled to in the other states purely on the basis of his contribution in that state.

It is also worth keeping in mind that responsibility for healthcare is also the responsibility of the state that pays the largest portion of his pension. For example, in my case I have about 5 years in Ireland, but 30+ years here in Switzerland and as a result if I was to retire to Ireland I am not entitled to access the Irish healthcare services or medical cards etc.. I still need to pay Swiss health insurance and they are responsible for all my healthcare costs in Ireland.

It is important that he does this in the correct order as once a decision is made it can't be reversed. Which ever pension agency assumes responsibility remains responsible even if he moved to another country later in his retirement.

rickyk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118416887#Comment_118416887

Thanks for the reply. He will not have full pension in any state, does this means that he needs to have minimum 10 years combined from EU if he wants to qualify for portion of Irish pension? For example 5 from Ireland and 5 from other EU countries?

rickyk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118416781#Comment_118416781

Thanks. He only worked in EU therefore Bilateral Agreement is for outside of EU.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118422357#Comment_118422357

The calculations are complex, but in simple terms it goes something like this. Since he will not qualify for a full pension in either state they will look at four things things: The max pension he would receive from Ireland on it's own, the max pension he would receive in the other state on it's own, the max pension 10 years contributions would get him in Ireland and the max pension 10 years contributions in the other state would get him. They then pick the maximum figure from the four options and divide by 2 (5/10) and each state then pays their half.

rickyk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118422514#Comment_118422514

Thanks a lot Jim, that clarifies the topic.

onefish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118416887#Comment_118416887

That's a great post , with useful information. I have about 850 prsi contributions. I will qualify for a full UK state pension. I have always been unsure whether or not I would end up recieving a pro rata pension from Ireland. I had a meeting at the intreo office in Cork, and they just said they didn't know. The Sligo office just said something like , we don't issue forecasts.

It's frustrating really, as if I definitely knew I'd be getting something, even if it was say 2,000 a year, it would change my plans as to when to finish .

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118952520#Comment_118952520

I'm not up to date on the arrangements with the UK after BREXIT.... did they even make a new agreement.....

In addition to pension, you should also check out your healthcare status. In my case for instance even though I'm an Irish citizen I am prevented from accessing the Irish healthcare services and my entire pension is paid from Switzerland, so I would still need to continue paying mandatory Swiss health insurance.