EU/EEA citizens and social welfare payments

You have the right to work in Ireland if you are a citizen of the EU, the EEA (the EEA includes the EU, Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway) and Switzerland.

While you are working, you can claim the same family benefits that are available to Irish citizens.

If you lose your job, or you stop working because you are sick, you can apply for a social welfare payment to support you while you are looking for work or recovering from illness. The Department of Social Protection (DSP) will assess your application and decide if you qualify for a payment.

You cannot claim a social welfare payment if you have arrived in Ireland to look for a job. However, you may be able to import your unemployment payment from another EEA country for a limited time.

The EU has rules on how social welfare is co-ordinated between EEA countries, including Switzerland.

There are EU rules about how payments are coordinated between countries. But each country also has its own rules. For example, the rate of payment and how long a benefit is paid for differs from country to country.

Ireland has many different social welfare payments.

Most payments are either based on the social insurance contributions you have made through work or your income (the DSP will carry out a means test to find your level of income).

Payments based on your social insurance

Some social welfare payments are based on your social insurance contributions (PRSI) from work. If you are an employee, your employer pays PRSI for you. If you are self-employed, you pay PRSI as part of your yearly tax return.

You can use the contributions you paid in another EEA country to qualify for these payments, but your most recent social insurance contribution must have been paid in Ireland.

Payments based on your income

Some payments are based on your means. In a means test the Department of Social Protection examines all your sources of income (including capital and savings). To get a means-tested payment, your income must be below a certain amount.

You must also meet the Habitual Residence Condition to get a means-tested payment. For some payments, the residence rules do not apply to EEA or Swiss workers. See ‘residence rules for means-tested payments’ below.

Each payment has its own qualifying criteria and rules about who can qualify. Detailed information is available in our social welfare section.

If you are an EEA or Swiss citizen and working in Ireland, you can claim family payments if you have dependent children living in Ireland or in another EEA country or Switzerland.

You can claim Child Benefit if you have a child or children under the age of 16. This is paid regardless of how much money you earn. If your child lives in another EEA country or Switzerland, Ireland may pay the full rate or a ‘top up’.

A ‘top ‘up’ can happen when the other parent of the child gets an equivalent payment from the country they live in, but at a lower rate.

EU workers (including self-employed people) have the right to reside in Ireland. This applies to EEA and Swiss citizens also. If you stop working, you can keep your right to reside status for a period in some circumstances.

You may need to claim a social welfare payment, if you become unemployed or cannot work because you are sick or incapacitated.

Losing your job

The type of payment you can get when you become unemployed depends on how long were working in Ireland, or if you can use your social insurance contributions from another EEA country. You may get:

• Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) - You must meet the criteria and have enough social insurance contributions. You can use contributions paid in another EEA country or Switzerland before you came to Ireland, but your most recent contribution must have been paid in Ireland.
• Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) - You must meet the criteria and the habitual residence condition (see below). This is a means-tested payment.
• Supplementary Welfare Allowance - You can claim this for up to 6 months if you worked in Ireland for less than a year, or for as long as you are looking for work if you worked in Ireland for more than a year. This a means-tested payment.

If the business closed down or reduced its workforce, you may be entitled to a redundancy payment.

Sick or incapacitated

If you are sick and unable to work temporarily, you can claim:

• Illness Benefit - You must meet the criteria and have enough social insurance contributions. You can use contributions paid in another EEA country or Switzerland before you came to Ireland, but your most recent contribution must have been paid in Ireland.
• Supplementary Welfare Allowance - This a means-tested payment.

If you become incapacitated (that is, you are unable to work permanently) and have enough social insurance contributions you can claim Invalidity Pension. If you do not have the contributions to get the full rate of Invalidity Pension, you may be entitled to a reduced payment if you do not have enough Irish contributions, but have contributions from another EEA country or Switzerland.

Each social welfare payment has its own conditions. You can read about the rules for each payment in our social welfare section.

Some payments are only available if you are ‘habitually resident’ in Ireland. The Department of Social Protection assesses if you have:

1. The legal right to reside in Ireland
2. A proven close link to Ireland.

EEA and Swiss workers (including those who kept their worker status when they stopped working) do not need to satisfy the habitual residence condition to get a family payment or Supplementary Welfare Allowance.

You can read more about the habitual residence condition for social welfare payments.

You may qualify for a pension from Ireland when you reach pension age.

A State Pension (Contributory) is based on your PRSI contributions. If you have not paid enough contributions to qualify for a pension, you may still qualify for an EU pro-rata pension. A pro-rata pension is based on your contributions in Ireland and other EEA countries. Ireland pays you based on the proportion of these contributions that you paid in Ireland.

If you live in Ireland when you reach 66 and you do not qualify for the maximum State Pension (Contributory), you may be entitled to the State Pension (Non-Contributory).

It is possible to get a pension from more than one country if you meet the qualifying conditions for each country.

Different retirement ages

Pension age is not the same across the EU. This means you may reach the pension age in a country you worked in, before you reach the pension age in Ireland. Your Irish contributions cannot be assessed for your pro-rata pension until you reach the Irish pension age of 66.

For example, if you worked in a country with a lower pension age than Ireland, the years that you worked in Ireland cannot be used to increase that pension because you have not reached the Irish pension age of 66. When you reach 66, you can claim an Irish pension, your original pension may be increased and you may also get a pension from Ireland.

Where to apply for a State pension

You apply in the country where you live. You don’t need to make separate applications in each country you have lived in. If you live in Ireland, you make an application for an Irish pension (if you are reaching 66) or you fill in form EUP65 (pdf) if you want to apply for a pension in another country in the EEA.

You can read more about the Irish social welfare system.

The Department of Social Protection has a list of Intreo (social welfare) offices.