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County Engineer salary in Ireland

County Engineer is the top of the professional engineering line in an Irish local authority. The whole scale is above six figures, and it is one of the few council grades where every single point sits in the higher tax band from the first day.

The short answer

A newly qualified county engineer starts on €100,515 a year. After 11 years of service you reach the top of the scale on €123,263. Allowances for promoted posts and, for some teachers, qualifications are paid on top of these figures.

Starting salary
€100,515
about €5,288 a month take-home
Top of the scale
€123,263
about €6,154 a month take-home

Figures from Circular EL 04/2026, 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
€100,515

The full pay scale, every point

County Engineer

Five ordinary points followed by two long service increments. The steps are the largest on any of the council engineering scales, close to €3,700 each.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€100,515€63,455€5,288
2€104,246€65,160€5,430
3€107,971€66,863€5,572
4€111,700€68,567€5,714
5€115,426€70,270€5,856
LSI 1€119,347€72,061€6,005
LSI 2€123,263€73,851€6,154

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.

What you earn in each year of your career

On the county engineer scale scale you move up one point for each year of satisfactory service, with no skipped points. That means 11 years of service to reach the top.

Years of service Your point Gross salary
Year 1Point 1€100,515
Year 2Point 2€104,246
Year 3Point 3€107,971
Year 4Point 4€111,700
Year 5Point 5€115,426
Year 8Long Service Increment 1€119,347
Year 11Long Service Increment 2€123,263

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 two Long Service Increments are not annual increments: they are paid for time served at the maximum of the scale, LSI 1 after 3 years and LSI 2 after 6 years. That is why they appear several years after the last point rather than one after the other.

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 a County Engineer earn in Ireland?
A County Engineer starts on €100,515 a year and reaches €115,426 at the top of the ordinary scale. The two long service increments then bring it to €119,347 and finally €123,263. Figures come from Circular EL 04/2026, effective 1 June 2026.
What is the starting salary for a County Engineer?
€100,515 a year at point 1, which makes it one of the few local authority grades where the very first point is already above six figures.
How long does it take to reach the top of the County Engineer scale?
5 years to reach the top ordinary point of €115,426. The first long service increment follows after 3 further years at the maximum and the second after 6, so €123,263 arrives after 11 years in total.
How big are the increments?
The largest of any council engineering grade. The ordinary steps average about €3,730 a year, against roughly €2,300 on the Senior Engineer scale below. The two long service increments are €3,921 and €3,916, so they are close in size to an ordinary step rather than being a bonus on top.
What is the difference between a Senior Engineer and a County Engineer?
Senior Engineer runs from €93,698 to €112,107 with both increments, and County Engineer from €100,515 to €123,263. The gap between the two ceilings is €11,156, and County Engineer is the head of the engineering function in the authority.
How does a County Engineer compare to a council Chief Executive?
A Chief Executive earns considerably more, and unlike the engineering grades their salary is banded by the size of the authority rather than by a scale. It runs from €168,954 in the smaller counties to €241,361 for Dublin City. A County Engineer at the very top of their scale is on €123,263.
What are LSI1 and LSI2?
Long service increments, paid for time served at the maximum of the scale rather than as ordinary annual increments. LSI1 comes after 3 years at the maximum and LSI2 after 6 years.
How much tax and ASC does a County Engineer pay?
A large share. Income tax is at 40% on everything above €44,000 for a single person, USC reaches the 8% band above €70,044, and ASC applies at 3.5% above €60,000 for a Single Public Service Pension Scheme member or 10.5% for a member of a pre-2013 scheme. The scale table on this page shows the resulting take-home for every point.
Is County Engineer pay the same in every council?
Yes. The engineering scales are national and set by circular, so the same point pays the same in every county and city council regardless of size. Only the Chief Executive post is banded by the size of the authority.
When do local government 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 a new circular is 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 2026-08-13.

More public sector pay:

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