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Staff Officer salary (Grade 5)

Grade 5 Staff Officer is the middle management tier of an Irish local authority. Its scale is short, only five ordinary points, so a large part of the grade's range comes from the two long service increments at the end.

The short answer

A newly qualified staff officer (grade 5) starts on €52,761 a year. After 11 years of service you reach the top of the scale on €63,109. Allowances for promoted posts and, for some teachers, qualifications are paid on top of these figures.

Starting salary
€52,761
about €3,397 a month take-home
Top of the scale
€63,109
about €3,834 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
€52,761

The full pay scale, every point

Grade 5 Staff Officer, Librarian, Legal Assistant

The same scale covers Staff Officer, Librarian and Legal Assistant in every county and city council.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€52,761€40,760€3,397
2€54,337€41,561€3,463
3€55,946€42,378€3,532
4€57,589€43,213€3,601
5€59,244€44,054€3,671
LSI 1€61,173€45,032€3,753
LSI 2€63,109€46,014€3,834

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 grade 5 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€52,761
Year 2Point 2€54,337
Year 3Point 3€55,946
Year 4Point 4€57,589
Year 5Point 5€59,244
Year 8Long Service Increment 1€61,173
Year 11Long Service Increment 2€63,109

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 Staff Officer earn in a local authority?
A Grade 5 Staff Officer starts on €52,761 a year and reaches €59,244 at the top of the ordinary scale. The two long service increments then bring it to €61,173 and finally €63,109. Figures come from Circular EL 04/2026, effective 1 June 2026.
What is the starting salary for a Grade 5 Staff Officer?
€52,761 a year at point 1. That is exactly the top ordinary point of the Grade 4 scale, which is not a coincidence: the grades are set so that a Grade 4 at their maximum moves across on the same salary and then continues climbing on the new scale.
How long does it take to reach the top of the Grade 5 scale?
Only 5 years to reach the top ordinary point of €59,244, one of the shortest scales in local government. The first long service increment follows after 3 further years at the maximum and the second after 6, so €63,109 arrives after 11 years in total.
Why do the long service increments matter so much on Grade 5?
Because the ordinary scale is short. From point 1 to point 5 the salary rises by €6,483, but the two long service increments add a further €3,865 on top. Well over a third of the grade's total range sits in increments you only get for time served at the maximum.
What is the difference between Grade 5 and Grade 6?
Grade 6 Senior Staff Officer is the next step up, starting on €58,474. Note that this is below the top of the Grade 5 scale including long service increments, so a long-serving Grade 5 on €63,109 who is promoted to Grade 6 would need to be placed carefully on the new scale. Grade 6 runs to €71,437 with both increments.
What are LSI1 and LSI2?
Long service increments, and they are not ordinary annual increments. LSI1 is paid after 3 years of satisfactory service at the maximum of the scale and LSI2 after 6 years. Nearly every local government grade from Grade 4 upward carries both.
How much ASC does a Grade 5 Staff Officer pay?
The whole scale is above the exemption threshold, so ASC applies throughout. Nothing is charged on the first €34,500, then a Single Public Service Pension Scheme member pays 3.33% up to €60,000 and 3.5% above, which the top of the scale and both increments reach.
How do you become a Grade 5 Staff Officer?
Through competitions run by the individual local authority or by the Local Government Management Agency, with internal streams open to serving Grade 4 staff and open streams advertised publicly.
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 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.

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