PRSI gap

[Liamoc]

I worked in Ireland between ages of 17 and 23years old. Then I immigrated to the us, I’m now 49 years old and would like to retire in Ireland.
1) Will the gap in PRSI payments make it impossible to have enough credits to get a contributory pension?
2) Can I pay voluntary contributions and how. ( I may not be moving home for another 5 years)
3) Is there a place in Ireland that I can have a face to face discussion with an official?,

 

[Conan]

Under current rules you need a minimum of 10 years contributions to qualify for any State Pension. So if you come back to work in Ireland then you could recommence PRSI contributions and build up your record.
The current calculation model is due to change in the next few years, so at this stage it’s hard to know whether your 6 year record will qualify for anything. It possibly might qualify for a pension of 6/40ths of the State Pension, but cannot be sure until the new calculation model is clarified.