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Defence Forces officer pay

Commissioned officer pay runs rank by rank, from Second-Lieutenant through to Colonel, with Military Service Allowance paid on top of every point. Unlike the enlisted scales, these are published as annual salaries.

The short answer

A newly qualified defence forces officer starts on €39,858 a year. After 2 years of service you reach the top of the scale on €43,766. Allowances for promoted posts and, for some teachers, qualifications are paid on top of these figures.

Starting salary
€39,858
about €2,716 a month take-home
Top of the scale
€43,766
about €2,927 a month take-home

Figures from Rates of Pay and Allowances for Officers of the Permanent Defence Force, effective 1 February 2026. Take-home is for a single person with standard credits, after income tax, USC, PRSI and ASC.

About the date of these figures

These are the rates the Department of Defence published with effect from 1 February 2026. A further 1% general increase applied to all public servants on 1 June 2026 under the Public Service Agreement 2024-2026, and revised scales for that date exist but are not currently accessible. The figures below therefore sit roughly 1% below the current rates. We have not applied that increase ourselves, because estimating a published figure is what makes salary sites unreliable.

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
€39,858

The full pay scale, every point

Second-Lieutenant, Ensign

The junior commissioned rank, two points. Military Service Allowance of €6,501 on top, giving total pay of €46,359 and €50,267.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€39,858€32,595€2,716
2€43,766€35,128€2,927

Take-home assumes a single person with the personal and employee tax credits, no other income, and ASC at pre-2013 scheme rates. Your main superannuation contribution is deducted separately and depends on your scheme.

Lieutenant, Sub Lieutenant

Ten points, the longest of the officer scales. Military Service Allowance of €6,501 on top, so total pay runs from €51,748 to €63,351.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€45,247€36,087€3,007
2€45,924€36,485€3,040
3€47,346€37,150€3,096
4€48,795€37,828€3,152
5€50,389€38,574€3,215
6€51,862€39,264€3,272
7€53,370€39,969€3,331
8€54,238€40,376€3,365
9€55,531€40,981€3,415
10€56,850€41,598€3,466

Three things worth knowing about how this page was built. The scale points are basic pay: Military Service Allowance is paid on top and is stated for each rank above. The document labels the last two points of several ranks as 1st and 2nd LSI but does not say how long they take, so we apply the standard public service rule of three years at the maximum for the first and three more for the second, which is set out explicitly in the health and civil service circulars. And at Commandant point 1 the document's own columns disagree: it prints a basic salary of €79,950, which neither matches its printed total of €80,490 less the €6,900 allowance, nor fits a scale whose next point is €75,128. We show €73,590, the figure the other two columns give, and flag it here rather than reproducing a number that cannot be right.

What you earn in each year of your career

On the second-lieutenant scale you move up one point for each year of satisfactory service, with no skipped points. That means 2 years of service to reach the top.

Years of service Your point Gross salary
Year 1Point 1€39,858
Year 2Point 2€43,766

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.

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 officer earn in the Irish Defence Forces?
It depends on rank. A Second-Lieutenant starts on €39,858 basic, or €46,359 including Military Service Allowance. A Captain runs from €58,182 to €68,142 basic, a Commandant from €73,590 to €83,868, a Lieutenant-Colonel from €89,425 to €96,998, and a Colonel from €103,087 to €125,371, which is €132,149 with allowance.
What is the starting salary for a Defence Forces officer?
€39,858 in basic pay at the first point of Second-Lieutenant, plus Military Service Allowance of €6,501, giving €46,359 in total. Cadets are paid separately and are not part of these scales.
How much does a Commandant earn in the Defence Forces?
Basic pay runs from €73,590 to €83,868 across six points, then two long service increments of €87,217 and €90,701. With Military Service Allowance of €6,900 on top, total pay runs from €80,490 to €97,601.
How much does a Colonel earn in the Defence Forces?
Basic pay from €103,087 to €125,371 across four points, with Military Service Allowance of €6,778 on top, so total pay reaches €132,149. Colonel is the only officer rank on this scale with no long service increments.
What is Military Service Allowance for officers?
An allowance paid on top of basic pay to compensate for the conditions of military life. For officers it is €6,501 a year up to Captain, €6,900 at Commandant, and €6,778 for Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel. Note that it does not rise steadily with rank: a Commandant receives more of it than a Colonel does.
Why is there an error in the published Commandant scale?
The Department's document prints a basic salary of €79,950 at Commandant point 1. That cannot be right: the same row gives a total of €80,490 with an allowance of €6,900, which implies a basic of €73,590, and €79,950 would also place point 1 above point 2 of €75,128, making the scale run backwards. We publish €73,590, the figure the row's other two columns agree on, and say so rather than reproducing an impossible number.
Do Defence Forces officers pay ASC?
Yes, at the fast accrual rates, which are harsher than for most public servants. The exempt threshold is €28,750 rather than €34,500, and above it the rate is 10% to €60,000 and 10.5% after that. Fast accrual applies because military service carries earlier retirement ages.
Are there separate scales for specialist officers?
Yes. The document sets out Rate 2 for engineers, legal officers, the Army School of Music, Naval Service operations branch, psychologists and military analysts, and Rate 3 for medical, dental and pharmaceutical officers, alongside separate rates for the Chaplaincy Service and for cadets. This page covers Rate 1 Class A, the standard officer scales.
How does officer pay compare to enlisted pay?
They overlap more than you might expect. The most senior enlisted rank, Sergeant-Major, reaches €1,202.01 a week in basic pay, about €62,505 a year at 52 weeks. That sits inside the Captain scale, between its fourth and fifth points, not above the officer structure. At the other end, a newly commissioned Second-Lieutenant on €39,858 basic is below the first point of Corporal, which is about €41,803 a year. Counting Military Service Allowance the gap is wider still, because a Corporal's allowance of €166.98 a week is worth more over a year than an officer's €6,501.
Are these the current Defence Forces officer rates?
They are the most recent we can access, effective 1 February 2026. A further 1% applied to all public servants on 1 June 2026, so current rates are around 1% higher. We have deliberately not applied that increase ourselves, and the page is updated when the June document becomes readable.

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.

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