State Pension (Non-Contributory)
The 2026 rates for Ireland's means-tested State Pension. This pension does not depend on your PRSI record: it is for people aged 66 or over who do not qualify for a full State Pension (Contributory), and what you receive depends on your assessed means.
- Maximum personal rate (2026)
- €288.00 /week
- Qualifying age
- 66
- Annual equivalent
- €14,976
Maximum rate: weekly, monthly and annual
The maximum rate is payable where your assessed weekly means do not exceed €30.00. The monthly and annual figures are arithmetic conversions of the weekly rate, not separately published amounts.
| Period | Maximum personal rate |
|---|---|
| Weekly | €288.00 |
| Fortnightly | €576.00 |
| Monthly (annual ÷ 12) | €1,248.00 |
| Annual (weekly × 52) | €14,976.00 |
How the means test reduces the rate
The Department publishes the rate in €2.50 bands of assessed weekly means. The rule is straightforward: above the €30.00 full-rate limit, the personal rate falls by €2.50 for every €2.50 of assessed weekly means. In effect the pension reduces euro for euro with means above the limit, reaching nil once weekly means exceed €315.00.
The selected values below follow from that rule. The full band-by-band table runs to well over a hundred rows and is published in the Department's rates booklet linked at the foot of this page.
| Assessed weekly means up to | Personal weekly rate |
|---|---|
| €30.00 (full rate) | €288.00 |
| €50.00 | €268.00 |
| €75.00 | €243.00 |
| €100.00 | €218.00 |
| €150.00 | €168.00 |
| €200.00 | €118.00 |
| €250.00 | €68.00 |
| €300.00 | €18.00 |
| €315.00 | €3.00 |
| Over €315.00 | Nil |
What counts as means is a separate question from the rate table. Cash income, the value of capital and savings above certain limits, and income from property are all assessed, while several categories are disregarded, including a portion of earnings from employment. The assessment rules are set out on the Department's State Pension (Non-Contributory) page.
Qualified adult and extra increases
An Increase for a Qualified Adult is payable only where the qualified adult is under 66. Once they reach 66 they can claim this pension in their own right instead, which is why there is no separate over-66 qualified adult rate here, unlike the contributory pension.
| Increase | Per week |
|---|---|
| Qualified adult aged under 66 (maximum) | €190.20 |
| Aged 80 or over | €10.00 |
| Living Alone Increase | €22.00 |
| Living on a specified island | €20.00 |
A pensioner aged 80 or over on the maximum personal rate receives €298.00 a week. The qualified adult increase is itself reduced where the personal rate is reduced by the means test.
How it compares with the contributory pension
| Non-Contributory | Contributory | |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum personal rate | €288.00 | €299.30 |
| Based on | Means test | PRSI record |
| Qualifying age | 66 | 66 |
| Can be deferred for a higher rate | No | Yes, to age 70 |
| Qualified adult aged 66 or over | Claims in their own right | €268.40 |
The maximum non-contributory rate sits €11.30 a week below the maximum contributory rate, a difference of about €588 a year. The larger practical difference is the means test: private pension income counts as means, so drawing on a private pension can reduce or remove this payment, which is not the case with the contributory pension.
What this means for private pension planning
At the maximum rate this pension provides about €1,248 a month. Because it is means tested, the interaction with private provision works differently from the contributory pension: income drawn from a private pension is assessable as means and can therefore reduce the payment. Anyone whose retirement income is likely to combine this pension with private savings needs that interaction assessed for their own circumstances, and this site does not assess it.
What this site does do is set out the published charges on the products commonly used to build private provision. You can compare published PRSA charges, use the fee calculator to see what a charge difference does over time, or read what a PRSA is.
Maximum personal weekly rate for 2026, payable from 2 January 2026. This pension is means tested and does not depend on PRSI contributions. The full rate is payable where weekly means as assessed do not exceed EUR30. Above that, the personal rate reduces by EUR2.50 for each EUR2.50 band of assessed weekly means, reaching nil once weekly means exceed EUR315. An Increase for a Qualified Adult is payable only where the qualified adult is under 66, because a qualified adult aged 66 or over can claim this pension in their own right.
Source: Department of Social Protection, Rates of Payment (SW19) 2026. Last verified against the source on 2026-09-01. Figures can change — the source link is authoritative.