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School principal salary in Ireland

A principal's salary is not a single figure, and that is why most salary sites get it wrong. It is built from two parts: your own point on the teacher pay scale, plus a principal's allowance set by the size of your school. This page shows both, and what they add up to.

The short answer

A newly qualified school principal starts on €45,833 a year. After 24 years of service you reach the top of the scale on €84,412. Allowances for promoted posts and, for some teachers, qualifications are paid on top of these figures.

Starting salary
€45,833
about €3,103 a month take-home
Top of the scale
€84,412
about €4,675 a month take-home

Figures from Circulars 0055/2026 and 0056/2026, 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
€45,833

The full pay scale, every point

Primary school, appointed to teaching from 2011

This is the base salary a primary principal is paid as a teacher, before the principal's allowance is added. Most principals are well up the scale by the time they are appointed.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€45,833€37,241€3,103
2€47,503€38,089€3,174
3€49,409€39,057€3,255
4 (skipped)€50,280€39,500€3,292
5€51,510€40,125€3,344
6€53,015€40,889€3,407
7€54,742€41,767€3,481
8 (skipped)€56,534€42,677€3,556
9€58,051€43,448€3,621
10€60,785€44,836€3,736
11€62,495€45,703€3,809
12 (skipped)€64,537€46,738€3,895
13€66,567€47,767€3,981
14€68,618€48,807€4,067
15€70,329€49,660€4,138
16€72,596€50,696€4,225
17€72,596€50,696€4,225
18€72,596€50,696€4,225
19€75,721€52,124€4,344
20€75,721€52,124€4,344
21€75,721€52,124€4,344
22€75,721€52,124€4,344
23€79,854€54,013€4,501
24€79,854€54,013€4,501
25€79,854€54,013€4,501
26€79,854€54,013€4,501
27€84,412€56,096€4,675

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.

Post-primary school, appointed to teaching from 2011

The base salary for a post-primary principal, which starts higher because the PME allowance is built into every point of this scale.

Point Gross / year Take-home / year Take-home / month
1€47,417€38,045€3,170
2€49,092€38,896€3,241
3€51,005€39,868€3,322
4 (skipped)€51,888€40,317€3,360
5€53,137€40,951€3,413
6€54,679€41,735€3,478
7€56,458€42,638€3,553
8 (skipped)€58,279€43,563€3,630
9€59,808€44,340€3,695
10€62,551€45,731€3,811
11€64,264€46,600€3,883
12 (skipped)€66,317€47,640€3,970
13€68,356€48,674€4,056
14€70,410€49,697€4,141
15€72,129€50,483€4,207
16€74,405€51,523€4,294
17€74,405€51,523€4,294
18€74,405€51,523€4,294
19€77,541€52,956€4,413
20€77,541€52,956€4,413
21€77,541€52,956€4,413
22€77,541€52,956€4,413
23€81,684€54,849€4,571
24€81,684€54,849€4,571
25€81,684€54,849€4,571
26€81,684€54,849€4,571
27€86,265€56,943€4,745

The tables above are the teacher scale alone. To get a principal's total salary, add the allowance for your school category from the tables below. A principal at the top of the primary teacher scale on €84,412 leading a category XIV school would be on €84,412 plus €49,052, which is €133,464.

What you earn in each year of your career

For those on the primary teacher scale scale, points 4, 8 and 12 are skipped. When you are due to move to one of them you get one normal increment plus one skip, so point 3 leads to point 5, point 7 leads to point 9 and point 11 leads to point 13. That is why the top of the scale arrives after 24 years and not 27.

Years of service Your point Gross salary
Year 1Point 1€45,833
Year 2Point 2€47,503
Year 3Point 3€49,409
Year 4Point 5 skip€51,510
Year 5Point 6€53,015
Year 6Point 7€54,742
Year 7Point 9 skip€58,051
Year 8Point 10€60,785
Year 9Point 11€62,495
Year 10Point 13 skip€66,567
Year 11Point 14€68,618
Year 12Point 15€70,329
Year 13Point 16€72,596
Year 14Point 17€72,596
Year 15Point 18€72,596
Year 16Point 19€75,721
Year 17Point 20€75,721
Year 18Point 21€75,721
Year 19Point 22€75,721
Year 20Point 23€79,854
Year 21Point 24€79,854
Year 22Point 25€79,854
Year 23Point 26€79,854
Year 24Point 27€84,412

Rows marked skip are the years where you move up two points at once. The skipped points still exist on the scale with a value attached, you simply pass over them. Those on the post-primary teacher scale scale are not eligible for these skips and move one point a year.

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
Principal acting as Secretary to Board of Management, under 101 pupils€658
Principal acting as Secretary to Board of Management, 101 to 300 pupils€987
Principal acting as Secretary to Board of Management, 301 to 500 pupils€1,317
Principal acting as Secretary to Board of Management, 501 to 700 pupils€1,646
Principal acting as Secretary to Board of Management, over 700 pupils€1,975

Questions people ask most

How much does a school principal earn in Ireland?
There is no single figure, because a principal's pay is their own point on the teacher scale plus an allowance for the size of the school. In practice most principals are experienced teachers well up the scale, so a realistic range runs from around €75,000 in a small school to about €140,000 in the largest post-primary schools. The tables on this page let you build the exact figure.
How is a principal's salary actually calculated?
Two parts added together. First your point on the teacher pay scale, exactly as if you were still teaching. Second the principal's allowance for your school's category. For example, a primary principal at the top of the scale on €84,412 in a category XIV school adds €49,052, giving €133,464.
How much does a primary school principal earn?
The primary principal allowance runs from €15,360 in the smallest schools, categories I and II, to €49,052 in a category XIV school. Add that to your point on the primary teacher scale, which runs from €45,833 to €84,412.
How much does a secondary school principal earn?
The post-primary principal allowance runs from €11,726 in a category I school to €53,488 in category XVII. Post-primary has seventeen categories against fourteen at primary, so the top allowance is higher. Add it to your point on the post-primary teacher scale, which runs from €47,417 to €86,265.
What decides a school's category?
The size of the school, measured by enrolment and the number of allocated posts. Bigger school, higher category, higher allowance. The Department also publishes a separate points rating used in determining the allowance for principals and deputy principals.
How much does a deputy principal earn in Ireland?
A deputy principal is paid the same way, their teacher scale point plus an allowance. At primary the deputy allowance runs from €8,182 to €31,729. At post-primary it runs from €4,747 to €34,280. It is roughly half to two thirds of the principal allowance for the same school.
Does a principal keep moving up the teacher pay scale?
Yes. Becoming a principal does not take you off the teacher scale, you keep progressing through your annual increments in the normal way, and the allowance sits on top. That is why two principals of identical schools can be paid different totals: they are on different points of the teacher scale.
What is the highest a school principal can be paid?
Taking the top of the post-primary teacher scale, €86,265, plus the category XVII principal allowance of €53,488, the figure is €139,753, before any other allowance. A teaching principal who also acts as Secretary to the Board of Management in a large school can add up to a further €1,982.
How much do Assistant Principals in schools earn?
Assistant Principal is a post of responsibility rather than a separate grade, so it is also paid as an allowance on top of your teacher scale point. At primary it is €10,692 for AP I and €4,730 for AP II, and at post-primary €10,728 and €4,747. Note this is a school post and is not the same thing as the civil service Assistant Principal grade, which starts at €83,113.
When do principal allowances increase next?
Allowances in the nature of pay rose by 1% on 1 June 2026 along with the salary scales, under the Public Service Agreement 2024-2026. That agreement is in its final year, so the next revision depends on the agreement that succeeds 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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