Entitlements on Retirement

I am 57 and have 24 years full time service working as a nurse in the HSE. I'm class D.
What are my entitlements if I reduce my hours to halftime for the next 3 to 8 years. How will my lump sum and pension be affected .

A year spent doing half hours equals 0.5 years service.

So obviously your years of service paying into the pension scheme will be reduced.

As the pension benefits are calculated by using years of service, the benefits will be smaller.


24 years full + 3 years half = 25.5 years service
24 yrs full + 8 yrs half = 28 years service

If you go halftime for the next 8 years it will count as 4 years for pension purposes. In this case your lump sum at 65 would be 84/120 times your pensionable remuneration (salary plus pensionable allowances). Your annual pension would be 28/80 times your pensionable remuneration.
If you continue to work full time until 65 the figures become 96/120 for the lump sum and 32/80 for the pension.

I am assuming your "normal retirement age" is 60. In this event if you worked full time for the next three years your lump sum at 60 would be 81/120 of pensionable remuneration for the lump sum and 27/80 for the annual pension.

This is all based on you being Class D PRSI.

what would happen if you had a final salary pension and took a demotion, which halved your salary, in advance of retirement? Would it greatly impact the pension or is there some protection for years at the higher salary?

The pensionable emoluments/allowances can be based on the average of 3 best consecutive years in the last 10 years of service. I don't think this applies to pensionable salary.

If you got a part time job and earned at least 38 euro per week in the private sector you could gain A class Prsi contributions. This would increase your level for qualification for state contributory pension. You would only need to work 4 hours per week at minimum wage.

bstop said:

If you got a part time job and earned at least 38 euro per week in the private sector you could gain A class Prsi contributions. This would increase your level for qualification for state contributory pension. You would only need to work 4 hours per week at minimum wage.

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For how long would one need to work at this part time job to be eligible for contribution pension?

Curlywurly said:

For how long would one need to work at this part time job to be eligible for contribution pension?

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You need a minimum of 520 paid A class contributions i.e. ten years.
For a pro rata contributory pension you need a minimum of 260 i.e. five years.
Check your contributions record at Welfare.ie to see how many A class contributions you have at present.

bstop said:

You need a minimum of 520 paid A class contributions i.e. ten years.
For a pro rata contributory pension you need a minimum of 260 i.e. five years.
Check your contributions record at Welfare.ie to see how many A class contributions you have at present.

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Thanks for the info.

Just to clarify. What salary do they use for HSE pension calculations. Is it the most recent which could be part time hours or is it the best 3 years out of the preceeding 10 years (that was my understanding) ?. Also someone posted a table about what % you get per year of service up to age 65. Just remember the amounts didn’t increase much per year after 55. Wouldn’t mind seeing it again.