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HSE administrative grade salaries

Administration in the health service runs on a numbered ladder from Clerical Officer up to Grade VIII. This page has every point of every grade, and shows where the rungs overlap.

The short answer

A newly qualified hse administrative grades starts on €31,934 a year. After 17 years of service you reach the top of the scale on €49,416. Allowances for promoted posts and, for some teachers, qualifications are paid on top of these figures.

Starting salary
€31,934
about €2,310 a month take-home
Top of the scale
€49,416
about €3,255 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
€31,934

The full pay scale, every point

Clerical Officer Grade (Grade III)

The entry grade. Fourteen ordinary points then a single long service increment, the longest climb of any grade on this ladder.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€31,934€27,715€2,310
2€33,702€29,002€2,417
3€34,137€29,319€2,443
4€35,020€29,948€2,496
5€36,311€30,853€2,571
6€37,602€31,759€2,647
7€38,895€32,666€2,722
8€39,835€33,325€2,777
9€40,897€34,070€2,839
10€42,130€34,935€2,911
11€43,004€35,548€2,962
12€44,225€36,404€3,034
13€45,458€37,050€3,088
14€47,771€38,225€3,185
LSI€49,416€39,061€3,255

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.

Grade IV (Clerical)

Ten ordinary points then two long service increments.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€36,470€30,965€2,580
2€38,623€32,475€2,706
3€39,488€33,082€2,757
4€41,673€34,614€2,885
5€43,672€36,016€3,001
6€45,423€37,032€3,086
7€47,118€37,893€3,158
8€49,403€39,054€3,255
9€51,066€39,899€3,325
10€52,757€40,758€3,397
LSI 1€54,367€41,576€3,465
LSI 2€56,018€42,415€3,535

The rungs of this ladder overlap heavily, so a promotion is worth what your placement on the new scale makes it rather than what the grade numbers suggest. Grade V starts at exactly the tenth point of Grade IV. Grade VII starts below the top of Grade VI. Long service increments are marked in the source document by bold alone, so we identify them from the font rather than by counting points.

What you earn in each year of your career

On the clerical officer scale you move up one point for each year of satisfactory service, with no skipped points. That means 17 years of service to reach the top.

Years of service Your point Gross salary
Year 1Point 1€31,934
Year 2Point 2€33,702
Year 3Point 3€34,137
Year 4Point 4€35,020
Year 5Point 5€36,311
Year 6Point 6€37,602
Year 7Point 7€38,895
Year 8Point 8€39,835
Year 9Point 9€40,897
Year 10Point 10€42,130
Year 11Point 11€43,004
Year 12Point 12€44,225
Year 13Point 13€45,458
Year 14Point 14€47,771
Year 17Long Service Increment€49,416

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 a Grade IV earn in the HSE?
Between €36,470 and €52,757 across ten ordinary points, then €54,367 and €56,018 with the two long service increments. Figures come from the Health Sector Consolidated Salary Scales effective 1 June 2026.
How much does a Grade VII earn in the HSE?
Between €61,219 and €74,251 across nine ordinary points, then €76,913 and €79,583 with the two long service increments. It is the most commonly searched grade on this ladder and one of the longer scales on it.
What is the starting salary for a clerical officer in the HSE?
€31,934 a year at point 1. The Clerical Officer scale is the longest on the ladder: fourteen ordinary points before its single long service increment of €49,416, so it takes 17 years to reach the ceiling.
Is a promotion from Grade IV to Grade V worth it?
Only if you move early. Grade V starts at €52,757, which is exactly the tenth and final ordinary point of Grade IV. A Grade IV already on that point, or on either long service increment of €54,367 or €56,018, would move across for nothing or for less. What Grade V buys is a ceiling of €63,110 instead of €56,018.
Is a promotion from Grade VI to Grade VII worth it?
Again it depends on placement. Grade VII starts at €61,219, which is below the top ordinary point of Grade VI at €66,677 and well below Grade VI's long service increments of €69,056 and €71,441. The gain is in the ceiling: €79,583 against €71,441.
How much does a Grade VIII earn in the HSE?
Between €83,912 and €101,207 across seven points, with no long service increment. It is the only grade on this ladder that passes six figures, and the only one with a clean gap from the grade below: it starts more than €4,000 above the Grade VII ceiling.
Are HSE grades the same as local authority grades?
They are close but not identical, which catches people out. A local authority Grade 5 Staff Officer starts on €52,761 while an HSE Grade V starts on €52,757, four euro apart. The ladders are structured similarly but they are set by different circulars and are not interchangeable.
Which other job titles sit on these scales?
Several. Supplies Officer Grade A is paid on the Grade VI scale and Supplies Officer Grade B on the Grade V scale. Other specialist administrative titles are mapped onto the same numbered grades throughout the Consolidated Salary Scales, so check the grade rather than the job title.
How much ASC do HSE administrative staff pay?
The Additional Superannuation Contribution charges nothing on the first €34,500 of pensionable pay, so a Clerical Officer on the first two points pays none at all. Above that a Single Public Service Pension Scheme member pays 3.33% to €60,000 and 3.5% after that, which most of Grade VI and above exceeds.
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:

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