Publication
Changes to the State Pension (Contributory) in Ireland
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
Changes to the State Pension (Contributory) are being introduced.
This is because today in Ireland, people are living longer, are healthier and lead more active lives resulting in more people availing of state pensions for longer.
These changes include:
From January 2024 access to the State Pension (Contributory) will improve for long-term carers.
If you have spent more than 20 years providing full-time care to an incapacitated person, you may be entitled to enhanced state pension provision.
You will get the equivalent of paid contributions (long-term carer’s contributions) for periods of over 20 years spent caring to cover gaps in your contribution record needed to calculate the State Pension (Contributory).
You will be able to apply for these contributions on MyWelfare.ie.
From January 2024, the State Pension (Contributory) will become more flexible.
You will be able to drawdown your pension at any age between 66 and 70 using flexible options.
This will give you the opportunity to continue to work which may improve your contribution record for when you decide to drawdown your State Pension (Contributory).
You will still be able to drawdown your pension at the age 66 in the same way as you can today. You can continue to work full-time after your pension is drawn down.
If you claim your pension beyond the age of 66, you may be entitled to an actuarially increased rate of payment. During deferral, you will be able to continue to make PRSI contributions to increase your personal rate of payment or meet the qualifying condition of 520 (10 years) contributions for State Pension (Contributory).
However, you will not be able to increase your contributions past the current maximum of 2080 (40 years). This means that it will be essential to know how many contributions you have before you are going to drawdown your pension.
From January 2025 there will be a 10-year phased removal of the Yearly Average Method, which means that all pensions will be calculated using only the Total Contributions Approach (TCA) by 2034.
During the 10-year transition period, pensions will be calculated using two methods:
To help you estimate the rate of State Pension (Contributory) you may receive, you can request a copy of your Contribution Statement.