Ireland Employer Cost Calculator 2026

Beyond the gross salary, Irish employers must pay Employer PRSI of 11.05% on all earnings (there is no upper cap). The 2026 MyFutureFund auto-enrolment pension adds a further 1.5% of gross salary (capped at €80,000 gross). Statutory sick pay provisions add up to €1,100 per employee per year. For a typical tech professional on €80,000 gross, the statutory obligations alone add approximately €10,500 before any discretionary benefits such as health insurance or equipment. The total cost of employment is typically 14–25% above gross salary depending on the role and benefit package.

Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) is Ireland's social insurance contribution, which funds state pensions, jobseeker's benefit, and other welfare payments. Employers pay PRSI on top of gross salary at two rates. For employees earning more than €25,792 annually (€496 per week), the rate is 11.05%. For employees below this threshold, the rate is 8.80%. Importantly, there is no upper earnings cap on Employer PRSI in Ireland, unlike the UK where Employer National Insurance is exempt on earnings below the Secondary Threshold. This means a €200,000 salary attracts €22,100 in Employer PRSI annually.

MyFutureFund is Ireland's national automatic enrolment pension scheme, which became fully operational in 2026. Under the scheme, employers must match employee contributions at 1.5% of the employee's gross salary. The employer matching contribution is calculated on a maximum gross salary of €80,000, meaning the maximum employer contribution is €1,200 per year regardless of how high the actual salary is. Employees can opt out of the scheme but are automatically re-enrolled every two years. Unlike the UK, where auto-enrolment has a lower earnings threshold of £6,240, Ireland's MyFutureFund applies from the first euro of earnings on employees aged 23 to 60.

Under the Sick Leave Act 2022, Irish employers are required to pay statutory sick pay for up to 10 days per year (the 2026 rate). The daily sick pay is calculated at 70% of the employee's normal daily wage, subject to a maximum of €110 per calendar day. For employees earning more than approximately €40,857 annually (€110 ÷ 70% × 260 days), the daily cap of €110 applies, meaning the maximum annual SSP provision is €1,100 regardless of salary level. This replaced a previous zero-day obligation that left Irish employees without mandatory sick pay coverage.

No. Unlike the UK, where Employer National Insurance is not payable on earnings below the Secondary Threshold and has a historical upper cap, Irish Employer PRSI has no upper earnings limit. The 11.05% rate applies to all earnings once the weekly €496 threshold is exceeded. This means that for a high earner on €150,000 gross, the Employer PRSI bill is €16,575 annually. When comparing Irish versus UK employment costs for senior roles, this is often the most significant structural difference founders encounter.

Private health insurance is not a statutory requirement for Irish employers. However, it is a highly competitive benefit in the Dublin and Cork technology markets. Most multinational tech companies, including the large US firms with Irish operations, provide health insurance as standard. The typical cost ranges from €1,200 to €2,000 per employee per year for individual cover, depending on the plan provider (Laya Healthcare, Irish Life Health, VHI). Failing to offer health insurance can materially impact talent attraction and retention for technology roles.

A mid-level software engineer in Dublin typically commands a gross salary of €75,000 to €95,000. At €85,000 gross with a 10% target bonus, health insurance, and equipment provision, the total annual cost of employment is approximately €108,000 to €112,000, or roughly 1.28 to 1.32 times the base salary. Year 1 cost including a 15% agency recruitment fee adds approximately €12,750, bringing the total first-year investment to around €121,000 to €125,000. This compares to a London-equivalent engineer where total employment cost including Employer NI (15%) and pension (3%) would typically be 1.20 to 1.23 times the base salary.

The headline difference is that Employer PRSI in Ireland (11.05%) is higher than UK Employer National Insurance (15% above the Secondary Threshold of approximately £9,100). However, the Irish rate applies from the first euro above the threshold with no upper cap, while UK Employer NI is on earnings above the threshold and has no cap either. At equivalent gross salaries, Irish employers typically pay 1–3% more in statutory social insurance contributions than UK employers. The Irish auto-enrolment pension at 1.5% is lower than the UK auto-enrolment employer minimum of 3%. Overall, total statutory employer costs are broadly comparable, but discretionary benefits like health insurance are more competitively expected in Ireland.

Agency recruitment fees in Ireland typically range from 12% to 20% of the gross annual salary, depending on the seniority and specialism of the role. A 15% fee is the most common benchmark for technology roles at manager level or below. Executive and C-suite placements may attract fees of 20–25%. In-house recruiters, LinkedIn Recruiter licences (approximately €10,000 to €15,000 per seat annually), and employee referral bonuses typically reduce per-hire cost but require ongoing investment. Recruitment is a one-time Year 1 cost and not included in the ongoing annual cost of employment figure.

Beyond the statutory and standard discretionary costs covered by this calculator, founders should also budget for: professional development and training (€1,000–€3,000/yr for technical staff), life assurance and income protection insurance (particularly relevant where employees have dependants), employee share option plans (KEEP scheme in Ireland offers significant tax advantages), and employer liability insurance. For remote employees, there may also be costs associated with home office equipment, coworking memberships, and internet allowances. The Irish government's Employee Expense Regime allows employers to make tax-free payments for certain home-working expenses.

The Key Employee Engagement Programme (KEEP) is an Irish Revenue-approved share option scheme for qualifying SMEs. It allows companies to grant share options to employees with no income tax, PRSI, or USC liability at the time of grant or exercise, with gains taxed only at Capital Gains Tax (33%) on disposal. For startups that want to offer competitive total compensation packages without immediate cash cost, KEEP options are a powerful tool. They do not reduce the base salary cost calculation but allow founders to structure competitive total reward with lower immediate cash outlay than salary alone.

No. This calculator models the cost of PAYE employment only. Contractors operating through their own limited company (sole trader or umbrella director) are engaged on a day rate basis and are not subject to Employer PRSI, auto-enrolment pension, or statutory sick pay obligations from the engaging company. However, contractors typically charge a day rate that accounts for these costs within their own structure, and their rates reflect a premium of 30–50% over the equivalent permanent salary gross. For detailed contractor cost analysis, use the Freelance Rate Calculator or Irish Contractor Calculator linked below.