Can anybody help us please? My husband should be receiving his Irish pension from this month. He sent off all the relevant documents to CARSAT in Rouen 6 months ago. He has not heard anything about it, after chasing them several times by sending recorded delivery letters. He telephoned Ireland but they cannot do anything their end, unfortunately. Has anyone had a similar problem, or has anyone any idea where we can go from here? Many thanks.
Sorry Maz can’t help with pensions but just wanted to say hi and welcome to the forum! I’m sure someone will be along with some advice!
Yes, a welcome from me too Maz, but I am confused, what has a French organisation got to do with an Irish pension?
I am only puzzled because when my wife and I reached our various pension ages, our British pensions were claimed from, and paid by, the British pension people. The only link with France is once a year when I declare our global income to the impots.
As I worked here before my retirement, I claimed my 2 French pensions in France.
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Hi,
When I went to the Irish authorities for my pension they informed that Because of tax agreements between the two countries any pension claims have to instigated with the French pension department prior to them paying out.
Hi Maz. Tax arrangements between France and Ireland generally have nothing to do with the Irish Department of Social Protection (read Social Welfare), that’s a matter for the Department of Finance. All Welfare have to do is assess entitlement and then reject or pay the pension.
A couple of years ago when I turned 66 and having lived in worked in the UK, Ireland and France I became eligible for modest enough pensions from all three jurisdictions, which added to to a reasonable monthly sum overall.
I did read at the time that since I was living in France I should apply through the French system for all three. However, I’d little confidence in that working so I applied directly to each giving my contribution details to all three regimes. Each has awarded me a pension. The Irish process was very straightforward. The French one was somewhat convoluted as my records were out of date and it was difficult to find who to send the details to, I suffered from severe acronym overload. I’d sort of given up but then I got a call from a local office and a very nice lady straightened everything out. I’ve had to call UK pensions repeatedly and they are always charming but progress has been slow. I received a letter in January or February this year telling me I was entitled to a pension and asking which bank it (and three years backlog) should be paid to but I don’t think anything has been paid yet. I must call them again.
So IMHO you should apply directly to the Irish Department of Social Protection. Just fill in the forms giving all details of contributions and take it from there. The staff are chatty and personable and will do their best to sort you out.
BTW, you might be entitled to a dependent person pension from them too if your income, savings and investments are below a certain level. The Irish state pension is quite generous, especially when compared to the UK one.
Hi,
Thank you for that information.
I am a bit perplexed as I have just called the Irish Welfare who deal with pensions and have told me that they have heard nothing from the French authorities. They told me that i should not send them anything as it will all go through French channels.
Now, the French channels. I have had a little correspondence from CRAM who deal with pensions only to get a reference number and a few simple questions, which I answered last May. Sent two further registered letters but not a word from them since. I have managed to get a phone number for CRAM fromthe Irish welfare, there contact number, so I’ll give that a try.
They never make it easy…
Maz, try this one: gov.ie - Retired and Older People
You apply in Ireland. They will tell you how long a piece of string is to get you off the phone.
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Hi John I tried a few years ago to claim an Irish pension and they gave me the same answer I had to do it via
French tax office after many emails between me and Dublin I gave up so haw did you do it direct? it would have been a huge amount just about enough stamps my apprenticeship and a couple of years after
Max, if you want to make progress then as I suggested fill in the forms, lob in a claim and let’s take it from there .Phone calls are worthless, correspondence is king.
I suspect that’s because you hadn’t a clue what you where taking about 
I’m happy to translate into the vernacular.
My experience is with England, not Ireland, so may not be relevant. And it is not about claiming a pension but disputing one.
We had a dispute about the amount of my wife’s pension because of something we had been told on the phone which enabled me to afford to retire early. The advice was wrong and we struggled for a couple of years to make ends meet. No communication at all produced a result, I even wrote personally to Tony Blair, but he was obviously too busy killing foreigners to bother.
Eventually I contacted our former MP in England and he pushed in all directions and really got the ball rolling. The outcome was in our favour with a large upgrade, back pay, and even interest on the witheld money.
Now, I realise that this isn’t your position @Maz, but have you ever thought of contacting your MP in Ireland? Would cost nowt and might just work, can’t hurt. 
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That’s a good idea. Ireland is very small and MPs (TDs in Irish) and even ministers are very approachable. More like UK councillors. If you get the TD onboard they could even mention it to the Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys. When my wife had a problem with her Irish driving licence we went directly to the Irish Minister for Foreign affairs office and they got the Minister for Transport’s office to sort things out in no time at all.
Hi, I first requested a statement of home many contributions I had and then just filled in the forms and lobbed them in and it all went swimmingly. No issues at all. Now I did have enough Irish contributions so that they didn’t have to use my French or UK contributions to get me up to the minimum level.
My UK pension (which I also applied for directly) did need a top up from other EU contributions but the UK office requested those from Ireland. I did need to prod the Irish office and I think they may have been sent originally to the wrong UK office or lost or something 
but it all worked out in the end.
Hi, John, I did more or less the same as you but I know I was borderline for stamps but they did not tell me exact no. and said I had to go through French tax office thats when I gave up I have UK pension so live on that would be nice to have more
I left Ireland 1962 so that’s the reason thing’s are a bit vague about no.of stamps so any information as to how you got Dublin moving would be a great help
Try this for starters. You’ll need to create an account. If it doesn’t work let me know and we can explore futher
I agree with John Scully. Go direct to the people in Sligo. Bombard them with letters (not emails) stating your case. I did this when I was 67 and got rewarded with a handsome €11 a week paid directly into my account. Now this was a contributory pension - not the State Old Age pension which is quite different and may have to go through French channels. In that case you’re in trouble as they refuse to see people in the flesh. All done by phone or email. I managed to sneak into their building once and was ejected manu militari by the Security Guard. So you’ll just have to keep phoning them.
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