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Executive Engineer salary in Ireland

Executive Engineer is the main professional engineering grade in an Irish county or city council, and it has one of the longest scales in local government. This page has every point, both long service increments, and what actually lands after tax.

The short answer

A newly qualified executive engineer starts on €60,858 a year. After 16 years of service you reach the top of the scale on €84,596. Allowances for promoted posts and, for some teachers, qualifications are paid on top of these figures.

Starting salary
€60,858
about €3,739 a month take-home
Top of the scale
€84,596
about €4,682 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
€60,858

The full pay scale, every point

Executive Engineer

Ten ordinary points, one of the longest professional scales in local government, followed by two long service increments.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€60,858€44,873€3,739
2€63,071€45,995€3,833
3€65,286€47,118€3,926
4€67,505€48,243€4,020
5€69,722€49,367€4,114
6€71,938€50,396€4,200
7€74,157€51,410€4,284
8€76,362€52,417€4,368
9€78,591€53,436€4,453
10€80,801€54,446€4,537
LSI 1€83,348€55,610€4,634
LSI 2€84,596€56,180€4,682

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 executive engineer scale scale you move up one point for each year of satisfactory service, with no skipped points. That means 16 years of service to reach the top.

Years of service Your point Gross salary
Year 1Point 1€60,858
Year 2Point 2€63,071
Year 3Point 3€65,286
Year 4Point 4€67,505
Year 5Point 5€69,722
Year 6Point 6€71,938
Year 7Point 7€74,157
Year 8Point 8€76,362
Year 9Point 9€78,591
Year 10Point 10€80,801
Year 13Long Service Increment 1€83,348
Year 16Long Service Increment 2€84,596

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 an Executive Engineer earn in Ireland?
An Executive Engineer in a local authority starts on €60,858 a year and reaches €80,801 at the top of the ordinary scale. The two long service increments then bring it to €83,348 and finally €84,596. Figures come from Circular EL 04/2026, effective 1 June 2026.
What is the starting salary for an Executive Engineer?
€60,858 a year at point 1. That is roughly €12,600 above where an Assistant Engineer starts, which is the grade most Executive Engineers are promoted from.
How long does it take to reach the top of the Executive Engineer scale?
10 years to reach the top ordinary point of €80,801. The first long service increment follows after 3 further years at the maximum and the second after 6, so €84,596 arrives after 16 years in total.
Why is the second long service increment so small?
It is unusual on this scale. LSI1 adds €2,547 over the last ordinary point, but LSI2 adds only €1,248 on top of that. On most local government grades the two increments are roughly the same size, so an Executive Engineer gains less from the extra three years at the maximum than colleagues on other scales do.
What is the difference between an Assistant Engineer and an Executive Engineer?
Assistant Engineer is the entry professional grade, running from €48,248 to €74,809 with both long service increments. Executive Engineer starts higher at €60,858 and reaches €84,596. The scales overlap heavily in the middle, so what matters on promotion is which point you are placed on.
What comes above Executive Engineer?
Senior Executive Engineer, running from €80,680 to €100,692 with both increments. Above that is Senior Engineer, from €93,698 to €112,107, and then County Engineer, from €100,515 to €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 ASC does an Executive Engineer pay?
The entire scale is above the exemption threshold of €34,500, and most of it is above €60,000. A Single Public Service Pension Scheme member pays 3.33% up to €60,000 and 3.5% on everything above, so almost the whole salary attracts the higher rate.
Do council engineers get paid the same in every county?
Yes. The engineering scales are national and set by circular, so the same point pays the same in every county and city council. There is no Dublin weighting for these grades.
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 across all local authority grades. That agreement is in its final year, so the next rates depend on the agreement that replaces 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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