You wrote an article recently on Irish people buying contributions to top up UK pension. This is something I have checked out and can buy them going back 18 years, which sounds great.
But when I checked with State Pension Contributory section in Ireland by phone, they said the years I buy back to top up the UK pension will cancel out my Irish contributions as the UK ones are from 2006 to present and I have been working in Ireland during this time and can’t claim in both countries for same period. I am not sure I want to lose Irish contributions over UK ones.
On the other hand, when I contacted UK they said by buying UK contributions it won’t affect my Irish pension.
This is very unclear and I am near the deadline of April 5th to pay. I’m wondering do you have any information on this as I am trying to get something in writing from pension section in Ireland to clarify exactly if this will impact my Irish pension before I go ahead or not in buying back UK contributions.
Ms U.M.
Misinformation is a dangerous thing even if inadvertent. I can only assume there was some crossed wire during your call with the person in the pensions section between what you were trying to clarify and what they understood you were asking.
I’ve no doubt it was very disturbing and stressful.
For clarity, there is nothing in the social insurance code of either the UK or the Republic that says paying social insurance in one jurisdiction means you cannot pay social insurance – or earn valuable credits towards benefits, including a pension – in the other.
So there is no question of Ireland cancelling out your PRSI record for any year that you purchase of national insurance in the UK under the current voluntary buyback scheme.
It is perfectly possible – provided you pay the relevant national insurance – to have a full state pension in the UK and in Ireland.
Where issues can arise is where a person does not have sufficient social insurance to secure a full pension. In such cases, credit can be given for social insurance contributions made in other countries.
Two things arise, as highlighted by the Department of Social Protection when I approached them on your behalf. The basic principle is that the one contribution cannot be used to qualify for a pension in two different jurisdictions.
First, for the calculation of pro-rata pension entitlement in those circumstances, paid or credited Irish PRSI takes precedence over voluntary foreign contributions where the dates overlap. As a result, voluntary contributions in UK would not boost an Irish pension where you had already paid PRSI here for the same period.
Second, despite the above, because of the vagaries of the formula used for pro rata pensions, voluntary UK contributions could actually adversely impact the Irish pension you get in those circumstance.
But that is only for people who do not qualify for a full Irish pension and who want to use non-Irish social insurance to get closer to the full Irish pension. And it only happens where, in your application for an Irish State pension, you tell the authorities here that you have worked elsewhere – in this case, the UK.
Otherwise, where you are looking to maximise both pensions independent of one another, as you are, there is no impact
As you say, the big thing here is time. You mention the need to pay by the April 5th deadline. The good news is this is no longer a hard “pay by” deadline – mostly because the UK authorities are so snowed under with applications that they are months behind.
However, everyone who has not completed the process would be well advised to fill in a callback form that you can find at here, screenshot it and send it. The British authorities have accepted that anyone filing that form by the deadline will be considered to be eligible for the scheme.
Over the coming days, we will talk about concerns over delays in hearing back on your application, appealing your case and missing national insurance numbers among other things.
Please send your queries to Dominic Coyle, Q&A, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street Dublin 2, or by email to dominic.coyle@irishtimes.com with a contact phone number. This column is a reader service and is not intended to replace professional advice
