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Local authority Clerical Officer salary (Grade 3)

Grade 3 Clerical Officer is the entry administrative grade in Irish county and city councils. It is a different job, on a different scale, from the civil service Clerical Officer that shares its name, and this page keeps the two apart.

The short answer

A newly qualified local authority clerical officer (grade 3) starts on €31,935 a year. After 17 years of service you reach the top of the scale on €49,413. Allowances for promoted posts and, for some teachers, qualifications are paid on top of these figures.

Starting salary
€31,935
about €2,310 a month take-home
Top of the scale
€49,413
about €3,255 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
€31,935

The full pay scale, every point

Grade 3 Clerical Officer, Library Assistant, Branch Librarian

One scale covers Clerical Officer, Library Assistant and Branch Librarian across every county and city council. There is no Dublin weighting: the same point pays the same in every local authority in the country.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€31,935€27,716€2,310
2€33,702€29,002€2,417
3€34,140€29,321€2,443
4€35,021€29,949€2,496
5€36,312€30,854€2,571
6€37,603€31,760€2,647
7€38,895€32,666€2,722
8€39,833€33,324€2,777
9€40,897€34,070€2,839
10€42,128€34,933€2,911
11€43,004€35,548€2,962
12€44,227€36,405€3,034
13€45,456€37,049€3,087
14€47,770€38,225€3,185
LSI€49,413€39,059€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.

Unlike most public service grades, Grade 3 carries only one long service increment rather than two. The grades above it, from Grade 4 upward, have both.

What you earn in each year of your career

On the grade 3 scale 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€31,935
Year 2Point 2€33,702
Year 3Point 3€34,140
Year 4Point 4€35,021
Year 5Point 5€36,312
Year 6Point 6€37,603
Year 7Point 7€38,895
Year 8Point 8€39,833
Year 9Point 9€40,897
Year 10Point 10€42,128
Year 11Point 11€43,004
Year 12Point 12€44,227
Year 13Point 13€45,456
Year 14Point 14€47,770
Year 17Long Service Increment€49,413

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 Clerical Officer earn in a county council?
A Grade 3 Clerical Officer starts on €31,935 a year and reaches €47,770 at the top of the ordinary scale. The long service increment then brings it to €49,413. Figures come from Circular EL 04/2026, effective 1 June 2026.
Is a local authority Clerical Officer the same as a civil service Clerical Officer?
No, and this is the single most confused point in Irish public sector pay. They are separate employers on separate scales. A local authority Grade 3 Clerical Officer works for a county or city council and starts on €31,935 a year. A civil service Clerical Officer works for a government department and is paid a weekly rate of €611.75, which is €31,811 a year. The starting figures are close, but the scales diverge after that and the recruitment processes are completely different.
What is the starting salary for a Grade 3 Clerical Officer?
€31,935 a year at point 1. Previous relevant public service experience can sometimes place you higher on the scale through incremental credit, but point 1 is the normal starting position.
How long does it take to reach the top of the Grade 3 scale?
14 years to reach the top ordinary point of €47,770. The long service increment follows after 3 further years at that maximum, so €49,413 arrives after 17 years in total.
Why does Grade 3 only have one long service increment?
It is simply how the scale is set. Most local government grades, from Grade 4 upward, carry two long service increments, LSI1 after 3 years at the maximum and LSI2 after 6. Grade 3 has only LSI1, so the ceiling arrives sooner and lower relative to the grades above.
What comes after Grade 3 in a local authority?
Grade 4 Assistant Staff Officer, which starts on €36,474 and runs to €56,015 with both long service increments. Above that is Grade 5 Staff Officer, then Grade 6 Senior Staff Officer, then Grade 7 Administrative Officer. Promotion is normally through internal and open competitions run by the councils.
How much ASC does a Grade 3 Clerical Officer pay?
Nothing for the first several years. The Additional Superannuation Contribution charges nothing on the first €34,500 of pensionable pay, and points 1 and 2 of the scale sit below that. From point 3 onward a Single Public Service Pension Scheme member pays 3.33% on the amount above €34,500.
Do local authority staff get an increment every year?
Yes, one point a year on your incremental date, subject to satisfactory service. Time out of service, such as an unpaid career break, pushes the incremental date back by the same period.
How do you get a job as a Clerical Officer in a council?
Through competitions run by the individual local authority or by the Local Government Management Agency on behalf of several councils, usually advertised on the council's own website and on publicjobs.ie. Panels are typically formed by county.
Is council pay the same in Dublin as in the rest of the country?
For the administrative grades, yes. The Grade 3 scale is national and set by circular, so the same point pays the same in every local authority. What does vary by council is the Chief Executive's salary, which is banded by the size of the authority, from €168,954 up to €241,361 for Dublin City.
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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