Working abroad may bring pension benefits

The latest employment fashion - working abroad for a few years - was a necessity rather than a choice for many of the Republic's citizens over the past 150 years.

Unfortunately, such mobility often meant a loss of pension or social welfare benefits, but this thankfully has changed.

A reader identifying themselves as MH from Kildare asks: "Could you please advise me as to where I should write about a possible English pension? I worked in London for approximately 10 years in the late 1960s to late 1970s.

"Will a state pension be due to me from the age of 60 in respect of those years, as distinct from Irish state pension from the age of 65?"

Irish nationals who have spent some time working abroad may qualify for social security and pension entitlements here and in the state in which they worked.

If social security contributions were paid in the Republic and their former or present state of residence, they are likely to qualify.

European Economic Area (EEA) countries covered by EC regulations - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, the Republic, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (excluding the Channel Islands) - are obliged to provide citizens of these states with social insurance benefits. These regulations ensure that EEA nationals working in other member-states receive the same treatment in social security matters as nationals of the countries where they go to work.

Social insurance areas covered include disability and maternity benefit, (including health care), benefits for an accident at work or occupational disease, invalidity pension, old-age (contributory) and retirement pensions, unemployment benefit, child benefit, death grant and treatment benefit.

Contributions paid abroad are taken into account for pension entitlements here. It is likely that MH qualifies for a pro-rata retirement or old-age contributory pension in the Republic. To be eligible, an individual must be aged 65 and 66 respectively and must satisfy certain social insurance conditions. The regulations specify that a minimum of 52 social insurance contributions must be made in the Republic but may have been paid at any time before the person claims benefits.

In addition, she should be entitled to a partial British pension. A spokesman for social welfare's international records section said: "When the reader comes to age 60, the British authorities will request the Irish record for the pension from Britain." The Department furnishes them with the insurance record and the final result will be an amalgamation of the person's contributions.

The process should occur automatically and unless it is six months prior to the individual's 60th birthday, or they have changed address, there is no reason to contact social welfare here concerning the British pension.

Social insurance benefits are also available, to a lesser degree, from areas with bilateral pension agreements with the Republic - Switzerland, Austria, the US, Canada, Quebec, the Isle of Man, Australia and New Zealand.

These agreements protect the pension rights of Irish people who work in these areas and protect employees from these areas who work in the Republic.

Fewer insurance areas are covered but they usually include: old age pension, survivor's pension, invalidity pension, sickness cash benefit and maternity cash benefit. People from those countries living here are usually entitled to apply for the following free schemes: travel, electricity, telephone rental and fuel allowances and television licence.

When comparable contributions are examined, pension rates provided to those who have worked in EEA or bilateral agreement countries are only a fraction of those received by Irish nationals making all their social insurance contributions here.

For more information on EC regulations, bilateral agreements and social welfare entitlements contact the International Records section, social welfare services office, (01) 874 8444.