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Hospital consultant salary in Ireland

Consultants are paid on the Consultant Contract 2023, a six point scale with separate and higher scales for academic posts. On-call and Clinical Director payments sit on top. This page has all of it.

The short answer

A newly qualified hospital consultant starts on €238,221 a year. After 6 years of service you reach the top of the scale on €286,151. Allowances for promoted posts and, for some teachers, qualifications are paid on top of these figures.

Starting salary
€238,221
about €10,532 a month take-home
Top of the scale
€286,151
about €12,358 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
€238,221

The full pay scale, every point

Consultant Contract 2023, clinician consultant

The standard clinical scale, six points. The increments are front-loaded: the first two steps are worth about €13,000 each, the last three about €7,150.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€238,221€126,387€10,532
2€251,098€132,272€11,023
3€264,691€138,484€11,540
4€271,846€141,754€11,813
5€278,998€145,022€12,085
6€286,151€148,291€12,358

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.

Consultant Contract 2023, academic Senior Lecturer

The lowest of the three academic scales, and still above the clinical scale at every point.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€256,634€134,802€11,233
2€272,472€142,040€11,837
3€285,147€147,832€12,319
4€293,947€151,854€12,654
5€302,745€155,874€12,990
6€311,546€159,896€13,325

These are basic salary scales under the Consultant Contract 2023. On-call, rota and Clinical Director payments are listed separately below and are paid on top. Older contracts still exist for serving consultants who did not move to the 2023 contract, including the Consultants Revised Common Contract of 1997 with its Type A rates by category and region, and those are set out in the same source document.

What you earn in each year of your career

On the clinical consultant scale you move up one point for each year of satisfactory service, with no skipped points. That means 6 years of service to reach the top.

Years of service Your point Gross salary
Year 1Point 1€238,221
Year 2Point 2€251,098
Year 3Point 3€264,691
Year 4Point 4€271,846
Year 5Point 5€278,998
Year 6Point 6€286,151

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.

Other allowances

These are tied to the job or the workplace rather than your qualifications, and are paid on top of your point on the scale.

AllowancePer year
Clinical Directors' Allowance€59,620
On call, flat annual payment€11,348
On call, additional for a 1 in 3 rota€3,292
On call, additional for a 1 in 2 rota€9,305
On call, additional for a 1 in 1 rota€12,255

Questions people ask most

How much does a hospital consultant earn in Ireland?
Under the Consultant Contract 2023 a clinician consultant starts on €238,221 and reaches €286,151 at point 6. Academic consultant posts pay more: an academic Senior Lecturer runs from €256,634 to €311,546, an Associate Professor from €274,674 to €331,591, and a Professor from €292,798 to €351,728. Figures are from the Health Sector Consolidated Salary Scales effective 1 June 2026.
What is the starting salary for a consultant in Ireland?
€238,221 at point 1 of the clinical scale under the Consultant Contract 2023. An academic post starts higher, from €256,634 at Senior Lecturer level up to €292,798 for a Professor.
How long does it take a consultant to reach the top of the scale?
6 years, since the scale has six points and no long service increments. The climb is front-loaded: the first two increments are worth about €13,000 each while the last three are about €7,150, so most of the €47,930 rise from bottom to top comes early.
How much more do academic consultants earn?
Substantially more at every point. At the top of each scale an academic Senior Lecturer is €25,395 ahead of a clinician consultant, an Associate Professor €45,440 ahead, and a Professor €65,577 ahead. Even the lowest academic scale starts above the clinical scale's second point, so an academic post begins ahead of where a clinician consultant stands after a year.
What is the Clinical Directors' Allowance?
An allowance of €59,620 a year paid to consultants who take on the Clinical Director role, on top of their point on the scale. It is the largest single allowance in the health sector pay structure.
How much are consultant on-call payments?
A flat annual payment of €11,348, with more for heavier rotas: an additional €3,292 for a 1 in 3 rota, €9,305 for 1 in 2, and €12,255 for 1 in 1. There are separate call-out payments on top of that, banded by how many call-outs occur in the year.
Are all consultants on the Consultant Contract 2023?
No. Consultants appointed since it was introduced are, but serving consultants who did not move across remain on older contracts, including the Consultants Revised Common Contract of 1997. Those legacy scales pay by category and by HSE region rather than on a single national scale, and they are set out in the same source document.
How much ASC does a consultant pay?
A large amount, because almost the entire salary is above the top threshold. Nothing is charged on the first €34,500, then a Single Public Service Pension Scheme member pays 3.33% to €60,000 and 3.5% on everything above. On a clinical consultant's starting salary that means the 3.5% rate applies to roughly €178,000 of it.
How does consultant pay compare to an NCHD?
The step up is very large. The most senior non-consultant grade, Senior Registrar, tops out at €102,619. A consultant starts on €238,221, which is more than double it. There is no overlap at all between the two structures.
When do consultant 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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