Combining Irish & UK contributions

I am 60 years of age and plan to retire later this year with a private pension.

Since living in Ireland I currently have 7 years PRSI contributions.

Prior to this I lived in the UK where I have 31 years NI contributions.

Am I correct in assuming...

- At age 67, in 2028, I claim the state pension here in Ireland
- I ask that my NI contributions in the UK be taken into account
- A total of 38 years of contributions will be taken into account in determining the value of my state pension
- My state pension will be paid by the Irish authorities

Thanks for your help!

ukpokerguy said:

- At age 67, in 2028, I claim the state pension here in Ireland

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Only if the rules change. If they remain unchanged, then you should apply six months before your 66th birthday.

ukpokerguy said:

- I ask that my NI contributions in the UK be taken into account

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The Pension Application Form facilitates this.

ukpokerguy said:

- A total of 38 years of contributions will be taken into account in determining the value of my state pension

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Yes - note that you may also be entitled to PRSI credits.

ukpokerguy said:

- My state pension will be paid by the Irish authorities

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Not necessarily:

If you apply for a long-term social insurance payment in Ireland and put in your application that you have worked in a country with which Ireland has a bilateral social security agreement, the Department of Social Protection will do the following:

• If you have enough Irish social insurance contributions to get an Irish payment the Department will pay it and also initiate, on your behalf, a claim in the other country you worked in
• If you do not have enough social insurance contributions the Department will request your social insurance record from the other country to help you qualify for an Irish social insurance payment and also initiate, on your behalf, a claim in the other country that you have worked. This means you may get more than one payment; you may get an Irish payment and a payment from another country.

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Shirazman said:

The Pension Application Form facilitates this.

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Do you know if you have to apply to get the application form, or is it sent out automatically at a certain point before reaching SPA?

ukpokerguy said:

Prior to this I lived in the UK where I have 31 years NI contributions.

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It may be worth your while filling out Form NI38 and pay voluntary NI contributions to get you to the 35 years needed for a full UK pension. It is really cheap.

ukpokerguy said:

- At age 67, in 2028, I claim the state pension here in Ireland

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You would have to work out which is better for you:
1) A full UK pension + an Irish contributory pension based on 14/40 years contributions
2) An Irish contributory pension based on 14/40 and 31 of your UK years used to top you up to the full 40 years

Maybe another poster can help on what rates you would get in the circumstances.

Lisgoold said:

Do you know if you have to apply to get the application form, or is it sent out automatically at a certain point before reaching SPA?

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Currently the onus is on the applicant to get the form for themself. It can be downloaded here or ordered from welfare.

The pension authorities work out which is the best way to calculate your pension payment in your favour

It is certainly worth looking into makling voluntary payments to the UK to get a better UK pension

Thanks for all the useful comments. I have already sent in an NI38 from for a request to pay minimum NI contributions to top up my UK NI record and will endeavor to fill in the missing 4 years of contributions there in order to complete the 35 year max!

ukpokerguy said:

Thanks for all the useful comments. I have already sent in an NI38 from for a request to pay minimum NI contributions to top up my UK NI record and will endeavor to fill in the missing 4 years of contributions there in order to complete the 35 year max!

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Following lots of other posts here, I am going through the same process (NI38 etc). Just wanted to add that there seem to be long delays in processing anything pension-related in the UK. It took some months to get a response to the initial NI38. When I paid the specified amount - nothing appeared to happen (i.e. no receipt etc). I phoned them after 2 months and they said there is a delay of at least 34 weeks before payments would be credited - however they did confirm that my payment was received and was in the queue.

The moral is - apply early for anything pension-related (included for Ireland also) especially if there is any complicating factor.

euroDilbert said:

I phoned them after 2 months and they said there is a delay of at least 34 weeks before payments would be credited - however they did confirm that my payment was received and was in the queue.

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This is my experience. I made some voluntary NI contributions in May and June and only got an acknowledgement in December.

Processing the initial NI38 form request was a bit quicker, about six weeks I think.