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Audiologist salary in Ireland

Audiology has its own scale in the health service, distinctly lower at entry than the therapy professions but with a chief grade that climbs well past them. This page has all four grades.

The short answer

A newly qualified audiologist starts on €40,920 a year. After 12 years of service you reach the top of the scale on €52,311. Allowances for promoted posts and, for some teachers, qualifications are paid on top of these figures.

Starting salary
€40,920
about €2,840 a month take-home
Top of the scale
€52,311
about €3,378 a month take-home

Figures from Department of Health Circular 2/2026, effective 1 June 2026. Take-home is for a single person with standard credits, after income tax, USC, PRSI and ASC.

What point of the scale am I on?

This is where most salary pages get it wrong. Your point is not always the same as your years of service, because one of the two scales carries incremental skips. Pick your situation:

You are on point 1
€40,920

The full pay scale, every point

Audiologist

Nine ordinary points then a long service increment. The increments fall away fast at the start, from €1,880 for the first step down to about €1,100 for the whole second half of the scale.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€40,920€34,086€2,840
2€42,800€35,404€2,950
3€44,397€36,511€3,043
4€45,751€37,199€3,100
5€46,863€37,764€3,147
6€47,983€38,333€3,194
7€49,151€38,926€3,244
8€50,301€39,510€3,293
9€51,415€40,076€3,340
LSI€52,311€40,532€3,378

Take-home assumes a single person with the personal and employee tax credits, no other income, and ASC at Single Public Service Pension Scheme rates. Your main superannuation contribution is deducted separately and depends on your scheme.

Senior Audiologist

Six points, starting well clear of the basic grade ceiling.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€54,680€41,735€3,478
2€56,758€42,791€3,566
3€58,114€43,480€3,623
4€59,668€44,269€3,689
5€61,258€45,075€3,756
6€62,884€45,900€3,825

This structure repeats a pattern three times: each grade begins at a point the grade below already reaches. Clinical Specialist starts at the Senior scale's fourth point, and Chief starts at the Clinical Specialist scale's third. Promotion therefore depends heavily on placement rather than on the grade title. Long service increments are marked in the source document by bold alone, so we identify them from the font.

What you earn in each year of your career

On the audiologist scale you move up one point for each year of satisfactory service, with no skipped points. That means 12 years of service to reach the top.

Years of service Your point Gross salary
Year 1Point 1€40,920
Year 2Point 2€42,800
Year 3Point 3€44,397
Year 4Point 4€45,751
Year 5Point 5€46,863
Year 6Point 6€47,983
Year 7Point 7€49,151
Year 8Point 8€50,301
Year 9Point 9€51,415
Year 12Long Service Increment€52,311

Progression is automatic on your incremental date as long as your service is satisfactory. Time spent on a career break or otherwise out of service pushes your incremental date back. The Long Service Increment is not an annual increment: it is paid only after 3 years of satisfactory service at the maximum of the scale, which is why it appears 3 years after the last point rather than the year after it.

What comes off your salary

Four deductions apply before your pay reaches your account, and one of them is specific to the public service.

Income tax, USC and PRSI

The same as any employee. Income tax at 20% up to €44,000 for a single person and 40% above, USC in bands from 0.5% to 8%, and PRSI at 4.2%.

ASC, the public service extra

The Additional Superannuation Contribution. Nothing on the first €34,500, then 3.33% to €60,000 and 3.5% above for Single Scheme members. Pre-2013 scheme members pay 10% and 10.5% on the same bands. It reduces your income tax but not your USC or PRSI.

One thing to be aware of: the take-home figures on this page include ASC but not your main superannuation contribution, which is charged separately and depends on which pension scheme you joined. Your actual net pay will be somewhat lower. We show ASC because its rates are published and identical for everyone, while the main contribution varies.

Questions people ask most

How much does an audiologist earn in Ireland?
A basic grade audiologist starts on €40,920 and reaches €51,415 at the top of the ordinary scale, with a long service increment of €52,311. A Senior runs from €54,680 to €62,884, a Clinical Specialist from €59,668 to €73,189, and a Chief Audiologist from €62,884 to €80,470. Figures are from the Health Sector Consolidated Salary Scales effective 1 June 2026.
Why do audiologists start lower than other therapy professions?
Audiology sits on its own scale rather than the shared therapy one. It starts on €40,920 against €45,514 for physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, dietitians and podiatrists, a gap of €4,594 at entry. The basic grade ceiling is also lower, €52,311 against €65,068.
What is the starting salary for an audiologist in Ireland?
€40,920 a year at point 1 of the basic grade scale, the national public health service rate.
Do audiology increments get smaller as you go up?
At the start, sharply. The first step is €1,880, the second €1,597 and the third €1,354, after which the scale flattens to between €1,112 and €1,168 for every remaining step. The long service increment is smaller still at €896, less than any ordinary step on the scale. Most health scales stay level or accelerate, so audiology is the clearest case here of one that slows down early and stays slow.
How long does it take to reach the top of the audiology scale?
9 years to the top ordinary point of €51,415, with the long service increment after 3 further years, so €52,311 arrives at 12 years.
What is the difference between a Clinical Specialist and a Chief Audiologist?
They overlap by three full points. Clinical Specialist runs €59,668 to €73,189 and Chief runs €62,884 to €80,470, and the Chief scale's first three points are the Clinical Specialist scale's last three in reverse position. What Chief adds is a higher ceiling, €7,281 above.
Is audiology a good career for pay progression in Ireland?
The basic grade is slow, but the senior grades climb quickly. From Senior point 1 at €54,680 to Chief at €80,470 is a rise of €25,790, while the whole basic grade scale only covers €11,391 from bottom to long service increment. The money in audiology is above basic grade, not within it.
How much ASC does an audiologist pay?
The Additional Superannuation Contribution charges nothing on the first €34,500 of pensionable pay. On the starting salary of €40,920 it applies to about €6,400, at 3.33% for a Single Public Service Pension Scheme member.
Is audiologist pay the same across Ireland?
Yes in the public health service. The scales are national and apply in HSE and Section 38 employers alike, with no Dublin weighting. Private audiology practice sits outside this structure entirely.
When do HSE salaries increase next?
These rates come from the Public Service Agreement 2024-2026, which applied a 1% increase on 1 June 2026. That agreement is in its final year, so the next rates depend on the agreement that succeeds it. We update this page when new consolidated scales are published.

Where these figures come from

Every euro figure on this page is taken from the official circulars below, not from salary surveys or crowd-sourced averages. Last checked 2026-08-14.

More public sector pay:

All public sector pay scales →