The average salary in Ireland stands about €50,900 per year for specialists across all sectors. IT professionals in this country earn on average around 15–30% above that sum.
Note: to be eligible for the Critical Skills Employment Permit, your salary offer should not be lower than €32,000 per year (excluding bonuses).
How much you can earn
The average IT salary in Ireland stands at about €60,000 – 70,000 per year or €5,000 – 5,800 per month. It depends on the specialization, experience, and location. The highest remuneration is offered in Dublin.
Data-centric and information security roles offer some of the highest salaries in the sector sometimes reaching €100,000 per year for experienced specialists. Similar remunerations are offered for Python and Java developers with work experience of five or more years.
Employers in Ireland are especially keen to hire for the following in-demand tech roles:
- Business analyst
- Java developer
- .NET developer
- Network engineer
- Product manager
- Project manager
- Security architect
- Systems administrator
AI and machine-learning professionals as well as cybersecurity professionals are also in growing demand in Ireland.
Here are average annual IT salaries in Ireland (€, before taxes) according to Jobs.ie:
C/C++ developer:
- 0–3 years: 35,000 – 55,000
- 3–5 years: 55,000 – 70,000
- 5+ years: 70,000 – 90,000
C#/VB.NET/Asp.NET/.NET developer:
- 0–3 years: 35,000 – 55,000
- 3–5 years: 50,000 – 65,000
- 5+ years: 65,000 – 80,000
Database administrator:
- 0–3 years: 30,000 – 50,000
- 3–5 years: 50,000 – 65,000
- 5+ years: 65,000 – 80,000
Data analyst:
- 0–3 years: 30,000 – 50,000
- 3–5 years: 50,000 – 65,000
- 5+ years: 65,000 – 90,000
Data scientist:
- 0–3 years: 40,000 – 60,000
- 3–5 years: 60,000 – 80,000
- 5+ years: 80,000 – 100,000
Java developer:
- 0–3 years: 38,000 – 60,000
- 3–5 years: 60,000 – 75,000
- 5+ years: 75,000 – 100,000
JavaScript developer:
- 0–3 years: 50,000 – 55,000
- 3–5 years: 60,000 – 65,000
- 5+ years: 70,000 – 75,000
IT security engineer:
- 0–3 years: 35,000 – 45,000
- 3–5 years: 50,000 – 70,000
- 5+ years: 70,000 – 100,000
Linux DevOps engineer:
- 0–3 years: 45,000 – 55,000
- 3–5 years: 55,000 – 70,000
- 5+ years: 70,000 – 100,000
Mobile (iOS/Android) developer:
- 0–3 years: 35,000 – 55,000
- 3–5 years: 50,000 – 65,000
- 5+ years: 65,000 – 90,000
PHP web developer:
- 0–3 years: 25,000 – 45,000
- 3–5 years: 45,000 – 65,000
- 5+ years: 60,000 – 75,000
Project manager:
- 0–3 years: 40,000 – 55,000
- 3–5 years: 55,000 – 75,000
- 5+ years: 75,000 – 95,000
Python developer:
- 0–3 years: 30,000 – 50,000
- 3–5 years: 50,000 – 70,000
- 5+ years: 70,000 – 100,000
QA engineer:
- 0–3 years: 40,000 – 45,000
- 3–5 years: 50,000 – 55,000
- 5+ years: 60,000 – 70,000
Ruby on Rails developer:
- 0–3 years: 30,000 – 50,000
- 3–5 years: 50,000 – 70,000
- 5+ years: 70,000 – 100,000
Solution architect:
- 0–3 years: 65,000 – 72,000
- 3–5 years: 72,000 – 85,000
- 5+ years: 85,000 – 100,000
Technical writer:
- 0–3 years: 30,000 – 35,000
- 3–5 years: 40,000 – 45,000
- 5+ years: 45,000 – 50,000
UI/UX designer:
- 0–3 years: 45,000 – 50,000
- 3–5 years: 55,000 – 65,000
- 5+ years: 75,000 – 85,000
All the above-mentioned salaries are calculated before taxes. Apart from income tax, there are two social surcharges: USC (Universal Social Surcharge) and PRSI (Pay Related Social Insurance). Income tax and the USC are fully paid by the employee, and PRSI is partially paid by the employer (above the salary specified in the employment contract).
There are two income tax rates in Ireland: 20% (for income not surpassing €35,300 for a single person or €70,600 for a couple) and 40% (for greater incomes). For example, if you’re a single person earning €70,000 per year, you will take home just €47,100 (with all social surcharges taken into account). You can use an online calculator to calculate your salary after taxes in Ireland.
There are also tax credits and allowances that can be deducted after you paid your taxes.
Cost of living in Ireland
The average IT salary of €5,000 – 5,800 per month is enough to live comfortably in Ireland. The minimum expenses for one person average at about €1,500 – 2,400 per month. This sum includes the following monthly expenses:
- Rental accommodation: 800 – 1,500
- Food: 200–300
- Leisure activities: 80–100
- Utilities and Internet: 150–250
- Transport: 200–280
Keep in mind that life in Dublin is more expensive than in Ireland’s regional cities as a result of higher rents in the capital city.