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Occupational therapist salary in Ireland

Occupational therapy in the public health service runs across four graded scales, from staff grade to manager. The figures are identical to physiotherapy and speech and language therapy, which is worth knowing before you compare offers.

The short answer

A newly qualified occupational therapist starts on €45,514 a year. After 16 years of service you reach the top of the scale on €65,068. Allowances for promoted posts and, for some teachers, qualifications are paid on top of these figures.

Starting salary
€45,514
about €3,090 a month take-home
Top of the scale
€65,068
about €3,917 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
€45,514

The full pay scale, every point

Occupational Therapist (staff grade)

Thirteen ordinary points then a long service increment, one of the longer scales in the health service.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€45,514€37,079€3,090
2€47,910€38,296€3,191
3€49,882€39,298€3,275
4€51,319€40,028€3,336
5€52,545€40,650€3,388
6€53,849€41,313€3,443
7€55,150€41,974€3,498
8€56,520€42,670€3,556
9€57,894€43,368€3,614
10€59,277€44,070€3,673
11€60,737€44,811€3,734
12€62,287€45,597€3,800
13€63,831€46,380€3,865
LSI€65,068€47,007€3,917

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.

Senior Occupational Therapist

Nine points and no long service increment, beginning just €129 above where the staff grade scale ends with its increment.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€65,197€47,073€3,923
2€66,587€47,777€3,981
3€68,021€48,504€4,042
4€69,442€49,225€4,102
5€70,864€49,905€4,159
6€72,358€50,587€4,216
7€73,935€51,308€4,276
8€75,506€52,026€4,336
9€76,767€52,602€4,384

This scale is shared with other professions

Occupational therapist is not paid on a scale of its own. The figures above are identical, point for point, to those for physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, dietitians and podiatrists. On the same point of the same grade, all of them are paid exactly the same amount. The discipline changes the work and the qualification, not the money.

Long service increments in the source document are marked only by being printed in bold, so we identify them from the font rather than by counting points.

What you earn in each year of your career

On the staff grade scale you move up one point for each year of satisfactory service, with no skipped points. That means 16 years of service to reach the top.

Years of service Your point Gross salary
Year 1Point 1€45,514
Year 2Point 2€47,910
Year 3Point 3€49,882
Year 4Point 4€51,319
Year 5Point 5€52,545
Year 6Point 6€53,849
Year 7Point 7€55,150
Year 8Point 8€56,520
Year 9Point 9€57,894
Year 10Point 10€59,277
Year 11Point 11€60,737
Year 12Point 12€62,287
Year 13Point 13€63,831
Year 16Long Service Increment€65,068

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 an occupational therapist earn in Ireland?
A staff grade occupational therapist starts on €45,514 and reaches €63,831 at the top of the ordinary scale, with a long service increment of €65,068. A Senior runs from €65,197 to €76,767, a Clinical Specialist from €72,119 to €83,689, and a Manager from €78,592 to €94,350. Figures are from the Health Sector Consolidated Salary Scales effective 1 June 2026.
Do occupational therapists and physiotherapists earn the same in Ireland?
Yes, exactly the same. The Consolidated Salary Scales list occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy on identical figures at every point of every grade, from €45,514 at staff grade entry to €94,350 at manager. If you are choosing between these professions, pay is not the deciding factor in the public health service.
What is the starting salary for an occupational therapist?
€45,514 a year at point 1 of the staff grade scale. That is the national public health service rate, identical in every HSE and Section 38 employer.
How long does it take to reach the top of the occupational therapy scale?
13 years to the top ordinary point of €63,831, with the long service increment following after 3 further years, so €65,068 arrives after 16 years. Beyond that, progression means promotion to Senior rather than more increments.
Is it worth becoming a Senior Occupational Therapist?
The gain is not immediate. The Senior scale starts at €65,197, only €129 above where the staff grade scale ends with its long service increment. Someone promoted at the very top of staff grade sees almost nothing on the day. What the promotion buys is nine further points, up to €76,767.
What qualifications do you need to be an occupational therapist in Ireland?
An occupational therapy degree recognised for registration, and registration with the Occupational Therapists Registration Board at CORU, the regulator for health and social care professionals. Registration is a legal requirement to use the title, and it is separate from the pay scale, which is set nationally by circular.
Where do occupational therapists work in the health service?
Across acute hospitals, primary care, mental health services, disability services and older persons' services. The pay scale does not change with the setting: a staff grade occupational therapist on point 5 is paid the same in an acute hospital as in a community team.
How much ASC does an occupational therapist pay?
The Additional Superannuation Contribution charges nothing on the first €34,500 of pensionable pay. On the staff grade starting salary of €45,514 it applies to about €11,000, at 3.33% for a Single Public Service Pension Scheme member. From the Senior grade upward part of the salary passes €60,000 and attracts the 3.5% rate.
Is occupational therapist pay the same across Ireland?
Yes in the public health service. The scales are national and apply in HSE and Section 38 voluntary employers alike, with no Dublin weighting. Private practice sits outside this structure entirely.
When do HSE 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:

All public sector pay scales →