How many PRSI contributions needed to qualify for a full state contributory pension?

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phoenix53

Registered User
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Hi. A very basic question that I don't seem to be able to understand the answer to.

How many prsi contributions do you need to have made before qualifying for a full state pension?

A colleague say 10 years contributions (520) will qualify you for a full state pension whereas I thought it was 10 years to qualify for some amount of a pension but approx 40 years contributions (2080) to qualify for a full pension.

Can anyone explain how it works please?

The national pensions helpline says 10 years contributions are needed to qualify for a full state pension.


"In order to qualify for the maximum state pension (contributory), you would need to have made at least 520 contributions before retirement at 66 years old. This is equivalent to 10 years full rate contributions."

Thank you
 
That last part says 10 years to qualify. It doesn't say .....for a full pension. Or at least, it should do....I think .
You need 520 to get the minimum.
 
There are really knowable people here who will correct the finer details but my personal understanding is it is a min 520 to qualify for the contributory pension but the full pension requires 40 odd years of contributions. There are stay at home allowances for taking care of children I think up to a max of 10 years but it has certain conditions attached. I think you can get credits allocated for certain social welfare payments and also you can voluntarily pay to make the contribution class but you have to have the 520. Then if you are drawing down an amount of income from an arf or have an income from rental that also can be counted towards your credits. If you do a search here there is very substantial and informative information to be found.
 
Thank you both for your response. I
Lisgoold said:
That last part says 10 years to qualify. It doesn't say .....for a full pension. Or at least, it should do....I think .
You need 520 to get the minimum.
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It does say " in order to qualify for the max state pension"

I can see where the confusion lies.
 
You'll need 2080 qualifying contributions (paid or credited) for the full contributory pension. Any less (but not below 520) the rate is pro-rata.
 
I've read so much on this site re pensions, lots of it well over my head. But I have gained valuable insight and been pointed in the right direction by many of the contributors and am very grateful.

But it bringing it right back to basics on this topic made me wonder if I was right in my thinking or not. Along with my pal, my husband also thought he was due a full pension because he had 10 years full prsi contributions. As a result of my insisting he won't get a full pension, he's gone off to investigate further.
 
Is the paragraph from the pensions helpline misleading do you think? I'm not sure how best to convince my friend of the 2080
 
You can only lead a horse to water they have to do their own research. My personal case is pretty simply its all PAYE and got my contribution credits from my gov.ie to see if I was missing any. For me personally the bigger issue is my lowly personal pension.
 
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phoenix53 said:
Is the paragraph from the pensions helpline misleading do you think? I'm not sure how best to convince my friend of the 2080
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Is it is hard to convince people that there is no magic money tree around. The current pension system is collapsing as we speak due to lack of proper funding. Only in cloud cuckoo land you get a full pension for a handful of contributions.
 
phoenix53 said:
Is the paragraph from the pensions helpline misleading do you think? I'm not sure how best to convince my friend of the 2080
Click to expand...

Regardless of what its name might evoke, that website is not a state run site, instead it is a commercial site. It provides details to a 'pension adviser' to contact you back. My advice is to avoid it as a source of the truth and use state websites like those Sue Ellen has provided

Here is the link Phoenix53 is referring to
 
I think some people were qualifying for full state pension based on 10 years contributions, it was highly unfair because it all depended on when you started paying prsi for example if you worked for a few months after leaving school and paid prsi then maybe emigrated for 15 years or so, came back and started working again from early 30s until retirement, you might have still paid 30 to 35 years of prsi but your average was brought way down because you started prsi contributions so early and then stopped
Another person maybe an older immigrant might have come to Ireland in early 50s worked up to retirement, maybe only contributed 10 years or so prsi and still qualify for full state pension, even though the second example paid far more prsi.
Now it has changed and your pension is either based on full prsi contributions or average whichever is the highest, so the second person will be paid more fairly based on their total contributions, however the first person still is not losing out and is still qualifying for full state pension based on average contributions being very high since they started very late in their life with no gaps.
Whoever thought up the average contributions system needs their head examined or at least explain why this highly unfair system was ever used
Therefore eventually the average contributions system is being phased out so the first person will benefit less and less with every passing year because in a decade it will be 100% total contributions system
 
It used to be 520 (10 years) contributions to qualify for the contributory state pension in full. From Jan 2024 it has been increased to 2080 (40 years) contributions.

Some jump
 
BrianMc said:
It used to be 520 (10 years) contributions to qualify for the contributory state pension in full. From Jan 2024 it has been increased to 2080 (40 years) contributions.

Some jump
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This is not correct. The only circumstances where 520 contributions would qualify for a full State Pension would be where the individual only had a 10 year contribution history (eg only started paying A class PRSI around age 55), under the Total &Average method. Assuming one started working and paying PRSI in say their 20’s then it would require a 40 year history (2080 contributions) to get a full pension. It is incorrect to say that this only changed in 2024.
What is happening from 2025, is that the Total & Average method of calculating is gradually going to be replaced by the Total Contribution Approach only (phased in over a 10 year period). The TCA will give 1/40 of a State Pension for each year of contribution. So 2080 contributions gives a full pension. But someone with only 10 years (520 contributions ) would only get 1/4 of a State Pension.
For the last number of years, the Dept have calculated the entitlement under both methods - Total & Averages and TCA - and you got the higher of the two figures. But over the next 10 years it will gradually change so that by 2034 the only calculation will the TCA.
 
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