What’s the minimum number of EU contributions that can be used to qualify for state pension contributory?

I worked a summer in Germany about 25 years ago.

I vaguely remember getting a German social insurance number but have lost all payslips and I didn’t have a contract.

Is it worth trying to get a record (if any) of German social insurance paid?

I may be a few short of 2080 by 66th birthday.

You can find your German social insurance number very easy by contacting DRV in Hamburg. They should be able to locate your data just by using your name and birth date.

Any EU contributions won't increase your Irish pension. You cannot just add a few foreign contributions to reach the 2080 level.
Using EU contributions for the Irish contributory pension makes only sense to fulfill the 520 contribution rule to get something at all- or activate any Irish credits. In all other cases you are better off to apply for separate pensions from each country.

Minimum EU contributions used to get across the 520 contribution line depends on the country you want to use. The Germans have a system of monthly contributions. Which needs to be changed into the Irish weekly system when it comes to the calculation. If you worked one day in Germany, your contribution counts as a full month. Similar in Ireland- a minimum earnings of 38 euros secure you a full week count. The problem is when the Irish side changes the German month into Irish weeks. DRV will deliver a list of all German contributions when it comes to calculate your pro rata pension. Unfortunately they show the exact dates when you worked. Let's say you worked from the 15th of a month to the 31st of the month. For the Germans this counts as a full months contribution. You might think the Irish side just changes this into 4 weeks of contributions under the Irish system. Not so- they see the exact dates...15th to the 31st- which is only 2 weeks in Ireland. So a full German contribution could suddenly lose half of its value when it is exchanged under Irish regulations.
To answer your question in the title of the thread: You can use the lowest amount of foreign contributions needed to bring you over the 520 line.
But beware of the small print!

Forumuser said:

Any EU contributions won't increase your Irish pension. You cannot just add a few foreign contributions to reach the 2080 level.
Using EU contributions for the Irish contributory pension makes only sense to fulfill the 520 contribution rule to get something at all- or activate any Irish credits. In all other cases you are better off to apply for separate pensions from each country.

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I’m a bit confused!

I worked from memory about 7 weeks ever in Germany.

What possibly could this get me in Ireland if anything at all?

I have about 700 PRSI contributions to date and should be about 2050 on 66th birthday.

Dr Strangelove said:

I’m a bit confused!

I worked from memory about 7 weeks ever in Germany.

What possibly could this get me in Ireland if anything at all?

I have about 700 PRSI contributions to date and should be about 2050 on 66th birthday.

Click to expand...

Those contributions in Germany won't bring you anything in Ireland. They only would have helped you to bring you over the 520 contribution line. But since you are already over that line you have no need for any of those German contributions at all anymore.
Applying for a German pro rata pension in the future makes no sense either-you would need a full year's German contribution first.
As far as I know you can ask for a refund of your German contributions from Germany when you reach pension age. But since you have only 7 weeks clocked up it should be only very little and not worth the effort.

Dr Strangelove said:

I have about 700 PRSI contributions to date and should be about 2050 on 66th birthday.

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Under current rules you could defer your pension beyond age 66 to get your extra 30 contributions. These could come from voluntary or ARF drawdowns.

You could claim pay related jobseekers allowance while waiting for your contributory pension.

After reaching the 2080 level you get full pension plus a small amount extra because of the deferral.

You would reach breakeven point quickly as your losses are only the difference between the 2050 level pension and the jobseekers benefit.