Publication
Operational Guidelines: Application of Bilateral Agreements
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
Ireland / United Kingdom Social Security arrangements from 1st January 2021
The European Union and the United Kingdom agreed a Trade & Cooperation Agreement which contains a Protocol on Social Security to take effect from 1st January 2021. The Protocol provides for a wide range of social security issues into the future. On the 31st December 2020, the Convention on Social Security agreed between Ireland and the United Kingdom was commenced. Together these Agreements ensure, that all existing social security arrangements for Irish & UK citizens are maintained into the future. Ireland as an EU Member State, will extend on a unilateral basis the advantages of the Convention to Union citizens, as required.
For Brexit-related information see:
For information on social welfare entitlements see:
This Guideline gives an overview and the general principles of the bilateral agreements on social security which Ireland has concluded with other countries. For more detail on each, please refer to the Information leaflets or the Statutory Instruments listed below.
| Country: | Date of Commencement: | Statutory Instrument: |
| Australia | 1 April 1992 | S.I. No. 84 of 1992 |
| Australia (Revised) | 1 January 2006 | S.I. No. 799 of 2005 |
| Austria | 1 December 1989 | S.I. No. 307 of 1989 |
| Canada | 1 January 1992 | S.I. No. 317 of 1991 |
| Japan | 1 December 2010 | S.I. No. 527 of 2010 |
| New Zealand | 1 March 1994 | S.I. No. 57 of 1994 |
| Quebec( see Note 1) | 1 October 1994 | S.I. No. 120 of 1995 |
| Republic of Korea | 1 January 2009 | S.I.No.552 of 2008 |
| The Swiss Confederation | 1 July 1999 | S.I. No. 206 of 1999 |
| The United Kingdom | 1 October 2007 | S.I. No. 701 of 2007 |
| The United States Of America | 1 September 1993 | S.I. No. 243 of 1993 |
A separate agreement to that which applies in the rest of Canada is in force with Quebec because their social security legislation is different. Throughout this Guideline 'country' should be read as meaning 'province' in the case of Quebec.
The main purpose of the bilateral agreements on social security is to protect the pension rights of persons who have paid social insurance contributions in Ireland and have reckonable periods in the other country. Reckonable periods in the other country may be periods of insurance or of residence depending on the social security system in that country. The Agreements protect pension rights by allowing reckonable periods in each country to be taken into account in either country in determining entitlement to certain benefits where there would be no entitlement if national legislation only applied.
In addition to protecting pension entitlements, the Agreements contain provisions to determine the correct legislation applicable in situations where double liability for social insurance contributions might exist: e.g. workers who are sent on temporary assignments from Ireland to a country with which we have a bilateral agreement and vice versa. The provisions (which vary in the different agreements) ensure that such persons are subject to the legislation of a single country. For further information on this aspect, see the Guidelines entitled "PRSI Special Collection System".
Ireland has Bilateral Agreements with 3 States that are also covered by the provisions of the EU Regulations on the coordination of social security systems, i.e. Austria and the UK , who are also members of the EU and Switzerland, to whom the EU Regulations apply in general.
The EU Regulations provide that any existing bilateral social security agreements are replaced by those Regulations, once the EU Regulations commence to apply to those States.
The EU Regulations provide that any existing bilateral social security agreements are replaced by those Regulations, once the EU Regulations commence to apply to those States.
This means that the provisions of the EU Regulations replace the provisions of the Bilateral Agreements between Ireland and:
In practice the provisions of the Bilateral Agreements between Ireland and Austria and between Ireland and Switzerland are no longer applicable, apart from cases where:
There have been a number of EU Regulations dealing with the coordination of social security systems over the years. The current EU Regulations, i.e. Regulation (EC) No. 883 of 2004 on the Coordination of Social Security Systems and Regulation (EC) No. 987 of 2010 laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation EC No. 883 of 2004, both came into force on 1 May 2010 and replaced Regulation (EC) No. 1408 of 1971 and Regulation (EC) No. 574 of 1972, respectively. There have been several Bilateral Agreements in place between Ireland and the UK, the earliest of which date back before the accession of Ireland and the UK to the then European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973. These earlier Bilateral Agreements were consolidated into the new agreement, which came into force on 1 October 2007, and this agreement principally covers persons who have worked in parts of the UK that are not part of the EU, i.e. the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Herm and Jethou).
The provisions of the Bilateral Agreement between Ireland and the UK are restricted to –
(a) persons to whom the EU Regulations do not apply, i.e. persons who have worked in Isle of Man and the Channel Islands as well as in Ireland, or
(b) persons who have worked in the UK and Ireland, where the benefits available under the Bilateral Agreement between Ireland and the UK are more favourable than those available under the EU Regulations.
Australia and New Zealand use periods of residence from age 16 instead of contributions. The agreement with Canada includes periods of residence which count for their Old Age Security pension when contributions were not paid under the Canada Pension Plan. Throughout these guidelines references to "social insurance contributions" or "periods of insurance" should be taken as referring to periods of qualifying residence under the legislation of these countries.
The Agreements cover migrant workers who have worked in Ireland and in a country with which Ireland has a bilateral agreement. Persons who have paid social insurance contributions in Ireland and have reckonable periods of social insurance (or residence as the case may be) in the relevant country can have these combined in certain circumstances in order to qualify for certain benefits/pensions. Benefits from the Agreements also extend to dependants and survivors.
Whether a period in another country is reckonable will depend on the social security system of that other country.
The Agreements cover the following Irish long-term payments:
The UK Agreement is an exception in this case, also providing cover in respect of the following short term benefits:
Recipients of Irish and/or social security pensions from any of these countries who are living in Ireland may qualify for the extra benefits available under the Irish Social Security system, subject to satisfying the qualifying conditions. The extra benefits are:
A person should normally make a claim for pension in the country of residence. A person living in Ireland should therefore apply for pension to the Department of Social Protection. If the claimant indicates that she or he was insured (or, where relevant, resided ) in a country with which Ireland has a Bilateral Agreement, a claim for pension in that country is initiated by the Department contacting the relevant institution on the claimant's behalf. The date of receipt of the claim and all relevant documentation should be transmitted without delay to the institution of the other country. The same procedure applies in reverse if the claim for pension is made in another country but the person has social insurance contributions in Ireland.
Note: The agreements with Austria, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom state simply that the date of receipt of a claim in one country shall be regarded as the date of receipt of claim in the other country.
In the case of the agreements with Australia, Canada, Republic of Korea, Quebec and United States, the provision that the date of receipt of the claim documentation shall be treated as the date of claim for a corresponding benefit claim in the other country is subject to the condition that the applicant provides information indicating that periods of coverage have been completed under the legislation of the other country.
In the event of a late enquiry from one of these latter countries as to the date of receipt of the initial claim in Ireland, the relevant institution should also be advised as to whether there was reference in that claim to the period of employment (or residence, where appropriate) in the other country.
Australia: Note that the provision that a claim for pension in one country will be treated as a claim for pension by the other country was included in the revised Agreement with Australia, effective from 1/1/2006. There was no such provision in the original Agreement with Australia effective prior to that date.
General Rules
The provisions regarding aggregation of records apply to all periods that are reckonable under the legislation of either country, whether before or since the bilateral agreement came into force. Each bilateral agreement must be treated separately for this purpose; periods in two countries with which Ireland has an agreement cannot both be aggregated with Irish contributions. In such a case, the entitlement under each agreement is calculated separately and the person will receive the higher rate if an entitlement exists under both.
Overlapping periods (e.g. where paid contributions in the other country coincide with pre-entry credits in the Irish record, or Irish contributions for a posted worker are reckonable as periods of residence in the other country) are only counted once.
The insured person, on whose record the claim is based, must have been insurably employed for at least one week in Ireland for a bilateral agreement to apply and (except in the case of Guardian's Payment (Contributory)) have a minimum of 52 reckonable weeks under Irish legislation.
Paid Contribution Condition:
If the person does not have sufficient contributions paid under Irish legislation to satisfy the paid contribution condition, contributions paid under the legislation of the other country (or periods of residence counted for the purposes of pension in the other country) are taken into consideration.
Yearly Average Contribution Condition:
The rate of entitlement is determined on the basis of contributions paid or credited during the relevant period (see details regarding each scheme in the following sections). Where there are insufficient contributions under Irish legislation, the combined records are counted.
If aggregation is required to satisfy either the paid or the yearly average contribution condition, a pro-rata entitlement is awarded as described below.
Credited Contributions:
These credited contributions apply if the person was entitled to reckonable credits at the commencement of the claim.
Where a person has no reckonable contributions paid or credited for two consecutive years, that person is not entitled to the award of credited contributions until 26 qualifying contributions have been paid subsequently.
Note:
Pre-entry credits are also awarded from the start of the contribution year up to the date of the first paid employment contribution, and also for the previous two contribution years. These are counted for the yearly average condition in order to include that year in the count without disadvantaging the person. When the Irish record is being aggregated with the record of insurance in a bilateral country, pre-entry credits should only be counted in respect of the year in which the person first entered insurance, regardless of whether that was in Ireland or the other country.
Calculation of Pro-rata Payment
Where there are insufficient insurance contributions under Irish legislation to create entitlement, and the pension is being awarded on the basis of the aggregate record, the rate of pension is calculated as follows:
Step 1:
The "notional pension" is calculated. Notional pension is that which would be payable if all reckonable social insurance contributions, both Irish and non-Irish, were treated as Irish contributions. The Irish and non-Irish contributions and reckonable credits are therefore added together and the total is then divided by the total number of years to get the yearly average number of contributions. The "notional pension" is the appropriate personal rate plus increase for qualified adult if applicable, not including child dependant increases, over 80 allowance or living alone increase.
The calculation of a notional pension does not apply to Invalidity Pension as a standard rate applies in all cases.
Step 2:
The following formula is then used:
(A x B) / C
A = the notional rate/rate of pension.
B = the number of reckonable Irish contributions.
C = the total number of reckonable contributions (Irish + foreign).
This figure is then rounded up to the nearest partial.
Step 3:
All appropriate increases, e.g. child dependant increases, over 80 allowance or living alone increase, are then added at full rate. (NOTE: the bilateral agreements do not restrict payment of child dependant increases to the country of residence only.)
Example (State Pension (Contributory) claim):
Total Irish Contributions = 600
Total Contributions in bilateral country = 1200
Total contributions (Irish + Foreign) = 1800
Number of years = 35
Yearly average counting foreign contributions = over 48.
Step 1: State Pension: Personal rate + Qualified Adult (over 66) = €451.80 (2017 rate)
Step 2: Pro rata calculation: (451.80 X 600) / 1800 = €150.60
Step 3: If the person is over 80 years of age, an additional €10.00 is payable, plus €9.00 if living alone.
This figure is then rounded up to the nearest 10 cents.
Additional Benefits:
The additional benefits (e.g. fuel allowance and household benefits) are also paid at the standard rate where the person is residing in Ireland. Living alone increase may also be paid abroad, on completion of the appropriate application.
Qualifying Conditions:
The first qualifying condition – entry into insurance before reaching age 56 - must be satisfied. However it can be satisfied on Irish social insurance or social insurance (or residence) in a bilateral agreement country
The second qualifying condition states the minimum number of contributions that must be paid. PRSI paid in classes A, E, H and S count.
| Age 65: | Before 06/04/2002: | Between 6/4/2002 and 5/4/2012: | On or After 6/4/2012 |
| Employment contributions paid at qualifying rate | 156 cons* | 260 cons | 520 cons |
| Voluntary Contributor at high rate | 156 cons* | 260 cons | 260 cons and balance of 520 in VC cons |
| Voluntary Contributor at high rate before 6/4/1997 | 156 cons* | 156 cons | 156 cons and balance of 520 in VC cons |
Reckonable Irish social insurance contributions and social insurance contributions in the bilateral agreement country can be combined for the purpose of satisfying this condition.
The third qualifying condition stipulates the yearly average number of contributions paid or credited for minimum, intermediate and maximum rates of entitlement.
Maximum rate of pension is payable where a person has a "yearly average" of at least 48. The yearly average is the average number of contributions paid and/or credited per year over the period from 1953, or from the year of starting insurable employment, if later, to the end of the tax year before reaching pension age (66).
Special conditions apply for persons with social insurance contributions paid prior to 1953.
Maximum rate pension is also payable where a person has an "alternative yearly average" of at least 48. The alternative yearly average is the average number of contributions paid and/or credited over the period from April 1979 to the end of the tax year before reaching pension age (66). The "alternative yearly average" applies only to persons who reached age 66 on or after 6 April 1992.
Reduced rates of pension are payable where a person has a yearly average of between 10 and 47.
The rate of pension is calculated according to the pro-rata rules explained in the earlier section whenever entitlement is dependent on aggregation.
However, if there are less than 52 reckonable Irish contributions paid or credited since the date of entry under Irish legislation, no pension is payable. In the agreements with Australia, Austria, Canada, Republic of Korea, Quebec and UK (as under EU legislation), where there are less than 52 contributions paid in the other country and a pension is not awarded by that country, the Irish pension is awarded on the sum of the two insurance records without the application of the pro-rata rule.
Rounding Up:
In calculating the yearly average, a fraction of a whole number consisting of one half or more is rounded up to the nearest whole number, e.g. 19.5 is rounded up to 20, 47.5 is rounded up to 48.
Application of provisions for Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension
Contribution Qualifying Conditions:
The insurance record of either the widow/er or the late spouse or civil partner may be used (but not a combination of both), as follows:
Only 156 paid contributions required where date of death of spouse or civil partner was before 27 December 2013.
However, if there are less than 52 reckonable Irish contributions paid or credited since the date of entry under Irish legislation, no pension is payable. In the agreements with Australia, Austria, Canada, Republic of Korea, Quebec and UK, (as under EU legislation), where there are less than 52 contributions paid in the other country and a pension is not awarded by that country, the Irish pension is awarded on the sum of the two insurance records without the application of the pro-rata rule.
Where entitlement requires contributions under both Irish legislation and the legislation of another country, the rate of pension is calculated according to the pro-rata rules set out in the earlier section.
For Guardian's Payment (Contributory), only 26 paid contributions are required. Irish contributions at classes A, B, C, D, E, H and S count. The contribution condition may be fulfilled on the record of either parent but not on a combination of the record of both parents. . In a case where either parent does not satisfy the contributions conditions on Irish contributions alone, social insurance contributions paid in a country with which Ireland has a Bilateral Agreement may qualify a person for Guardian’s Payment.
Where the contribution condition is fulfilled it does not matter where the death of the parents took place, nor where the orphan is residing. (The bilateral agreements do not provide a similar residence condition to that included in the EU Regulations.)
Payment is made at the standard rate - the pro rata calculation does not apply to Guardian's Payment (Contributory).
A person must satisfy both PRSI contributions and Medical conditions as follows:
PRSI Contributions condition
For all claims received on or after 01/12/2017 , the claimant must have:
AND
For all claims received prior to 01/12/2017, the claimant must have:
AND
The last complete contribution year is the year before the date of claim. For example, if a claim is made for Invalidity Pension in December 2017, the last complete contribution year is 2016 and the second last complete contribution year is 2015.
Note:
If a claimant has been in receipt of Illness Benefit continuously since 4 April 1986, they must have 156 total contributions paid.
If a claimant has been in receipt of Illness Benefit continuously since 2 January 1987, they must have 208 total contributions paid.
Where a person does not satisfy the contributions conditions on Irish contributions alone, Social Insurance contributions paid in a country with which Ireland has a Bilateral Agreement may qualify a person for a Pro-Rata Invalidity Pension. The rate of payment is calculated according to the pro-rata rules set out below. Foreign contributions paid since 1953 are counted.
However, if there are less than 52 reckonable Irish contributions paid or credited since the date of entry under Irish legislation, no pension is payable. In the agreements with Australia, Austria, Canada, Quebec and UK, (as under EU legislation), where there are less than 52 contributions paid in the other country and a pension is not awarded by that country, the Irish pension is awarded on the sum of the two insurance records without the application of the pro-rata rule.
Pro-Rata Pension Calculation
The number of Irish Contributions divided by the total of Irish and bilateral contributions multiplied by the current personal weekly rate.
Example
Irish Contributions = 300
Contributions outside Ireland = 100
Total Contributions = 400
300 is divided by 400 and multiplied by the weekly personal rate of Invalidity pension (currently €198.50 – 2017 rate).
Where a qualified adult allowance is also payable this is paid on a pro-rata basis i.e. 300 is divided by 400 and multiplied by the weekly personal rate of Qualified Adult Allowance payable (this is tapered dependent on means). Maximum Qualified Adult Allowance currently payable is €141.70 - 2017 rate.
Medical
A person must be regarded as permanently incapable of work, which is defined as:
OR
Most of the agreements provide that a period of incapacity for work while resident in the other country will be counted as if it was in Ireland for the purpose of determining the period of incapacity. Although this is not stipulated in the Quebec agreement, the general principles of equal treatment should be understood to include this provision.