Every grade side by side
13 grades covered so far, ordered by starting salary. The ceiling column includes any long service increments, and the years column is how long it takes to get there.
| Grade | Starts on | Ceiling | Years to ceiling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local authority Clerical Officer (Grade 3) | €31,935 | €49,413 | 17 years |
| Assistant Staff Officer (Grade 4) | €36,474 | €56,015 | 15 years |
| Graduate Engineer | €40,244 | €50,951 | 4 years |
| Assistant Engineer | €48,248 | €74,809 | 17 years |
| Staff Officer (Grade 5) | €52,761 | €63,109 | 11 years |
| Senior Staff Officer (Grade 6) | €58,474 | €71,437 | 11 years |
| Executive Engineer | €60,858 | €84,596 | 16 years |
| Local authority Administrative Officer (Grade 7) | €61,217 | €79,583 | 15 years |
| Senior Executive Engineer | €80,680 | €100,692 | 13 years |
| Senior Executive Officer | €82,595 | €109,155 | 13 years |
| Senior Engineer | €93,698 | €112,107 | 12 years |
| County Engineer | €100,515 | €123,263 | 11 years |
| Director of Service | €115,332 | €136,300 | 5 years |
Local authority Clerical Officer (Grade 3), about €2,310 a month take-home.
Director of Service, reached after 5 years.
How pay works in this sector
Local authority pay is national. The same point pays the same in every county and city council in the country, with no Dublin weighting. The one exception is the Chief Executive, whose salary is banded by the size of the authority, from €168,954 in the smaller counties to €241,361 for Dublin City.
Two structural points matter when weighing up a promotion here. Most grades carry two long service increments, but Grade 3 has only one, and Graduate Engineer and Director of Service have none at all, so their scales simply end. And the grades overlap: Grade 6 starts below where a long-serving Grade 5 already sits once both increments are counted, which means a promotion is only worth what your placement on the new scale makes it.