A
State Pension (Non-Contributory) is not normally paid to people who reside outside the State. However, if you go to live in Northern Ireland, and were in receipt of a State Pension (Non-Contributory) immediately before you moved, your pension can continue to be paid for up to five years subject to certain conditions.
If you go on holiday abroad, payment of your pension for a period of up to 13 weeks is normally allowed on your return home. However, payment will not be allowed for repeated trips of this nature.
If you are already receiving a
State Pension (Contributory) & then move abroad you will continue to receive it for the duration of your life, but you must inform DSFA of your intention to emigrate & your new details.
If you have paid social insurance contributions in 2 or more EEA member states, you should apply for a pension to the member state in which you now live or in which you had your last contribution if you have no contributions in the state where you live. The authorities in the state in which you apply will then calculate with the other states exactly what is due to you from each of them.
Each state looks at your situation in two ways and then grants you whichever is most beneficial.
(a) They see if you can qualify for a pension on the basis of contributions paid in that state only
(b) They then look at your contributions in all member states and see what pension you would get if all of those contributions had been in their own state; they then calculate what proportion is applicable to them
You then get the higher of (a) and (b)
Ireland has entered into bilateral social security agreements with Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Austria and Quebec (which has a separate system from the rest of Canada). These agreements are broadly similar and they generally provide that social insurance paid in Ireland and the other country can be combined to help people qualify for old age and retirement pensions. Again, in general, the method of calculation is similar to the EU rules.