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Phlebotomist pay in Ireland

The trainee rate is the lowest single figure published anywhere in the health scales. What follows it is a steady climb rather than a jump.

The short answer

A newly qualified phlebotomist starts on €38,671 a year. After 11 years of service you reach the top of the scale on €51,007. Allowances for promoted posts and, for some teachers, qualifications are paid on top of these figures.

Starting salary
€38,671
about €2,709 a month take-home
Top of the scale
€51,007
about €3,322 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
€38,671

The full pay scale, every point

Phlebotomist

Eight ordinary points and then a long service increment. The steps are small and even, between one and two thousand each.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€38,671€32,509€2,709
2€40,870€34,051€2,838
3€41,726€34,651€2,888
4€43,308€35,761€2,980
5€44,983€36,809€3,067
6€46,684€37,673€3,139
7€48,392€38,541€3,212
8€50,145€39,431€3,286
LSI€51,007€39,869€3,322

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.

Phlebotomist, trainee

A single point rather than a scale. You sit on it while training and then move to the scale below.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€27,196€24,251€2,021

The trainee point of €27,196 is the lowest single figure in the health scales we cover. The jump from it to the first point of the main scale is €11,475, by far the largest step on this page and larger than the entire climb from point 1 to point 6 afterwards. Long service increments are marked in the source only by being printed in bold, so we identified them from the font rather than by assuming.

What you earn in each year of your career

On the phlebotomist 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€38,671
Year 2Point 2€40,870
Year 3Point 3€41,726
Year 4Point 4€43,308
Year 5Point 5€44,983
Year 6Point 6€46,684
Year 7Point 7€48,392
Year 8Point 8€50,145
Year 11Long Service Increment€51,007

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 phlebotomist earn in Ireland?
In the HSE, from €38,671 at the first point to €50,145 at the top of the ordinary scale, with a long service increment of €51,007 after that. Trainees are on €27,196. These are the rates effective 1 June 2026.
What does a trainee phlebotomist earn?
€27,196, a single point rather than a scale. It is the lowest published figure in the health scales covered on this site. Once training is complete you move onto the main scale, which starts at €38,671, a jump of €11,475.
How long does it take to reach the top of the phlebotomist scale?
About seven years to reach €50,145 at the top of the eight ordinary points, then the long service increment of €51,007 after a further period at the maximum.
How much does a Senior Phlebotomist earn?
From €45,204 to €55,362 over six points, with no long service increment. The first Senior point sits between points 5 and 6 of the ordinary scale, so someone promoted early gains a lot and someone promoted at the top gains little at first.
Do you need a qualification to work as a phlebotomist in Ireland?
The pay scales published by the HSE distinguish a trainee rate from the main scale, which tells you training is expected rather than optional. What the training consists of is not set out in the salary document, so we do not describe it here. Check the job specification on the competition you are applying to.
Is phlebotomist pay the same in private clinics?
No, and this page does not cover it. These are the HSE scales, set by circular and identical across the country. Private clinic pay is agreed with the employer and is not published anywhere we could cite.
How does it compare to a healthcare assistant?
Both are entry routes into the health service without a degree, and both climb slowly. The useful comparison is the ceiling: a phlebotomist reaches €51,007 on the ordinary grade, and moving to Senior takes it to €55,362.
When do these rates change next?
These are effective 1 June 2026 under the Public Service Agreement 2024-2026, which is in its final year. The next change depends on the agreement that succeeds it, and we update this page when revised 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 2026-08-18.

More public sector pay:

All public sector pay scales →