Data & AI Salary and Job Market in Ireland 2026

The job ad looks perfect and says nothing about money. Again. That is the normal state of play in Irish data hiring, and it means your research has to be done before the offer lands, not after.

Here is what the market looks like right now, and how to put a number on the table that survives a recruiter pushing back.

What the listings show right now#

On 14 October 2026, the JobRise live jobs feed showed 20 open Data & AI jobs in Ireland. Treat that as a dated snapshot of one feed, not a market survey.

Of those 20, 17 were posted in the last 30 days and 8 in the last 7 days, so the slice is active and moving rather than sitting there stale. All 20 are full-time.

Dublin holds 13 of the listings and Cork 3, which leaves a thin scatter across the rest of the country if you are hunting outside those two cities. Expect remote or hybrid there. Fewer walk-in roles.

Who is hiring#

The names with the most open listings in this slice, exactly as they appear: Intercom with 6, Nucleo Consulting Limited with 3, Mongodb with 3, and Stripe with 3. Single listings come from iMerit Technology, ATC Computer Transport & Logistics, Google, Elastic, and Launchdarkly.

Some of these are recruiters or staffing firms, not direct employers, and that changes the money conversation completely. Nucleo Consulting Limited shows an "Analyst" role and an "Oracle Specialist" role, which reads like agency hiring for clients. A recruiter's budget and the end client's budget are two different things.

Ask early which one you are negotiating against. That's the catch.

The salary problem#

No listing in this slice shows a salary. Zero out of 20.

You can read the description, guess the seniority, and still have no idea whether the band is EUR 55,000 a year or EUR 95,000 a year. Ask before you burn three interview rounds on something paying 20% under your floor.

There is a second signal here. Zero of 20 listings in this slice carry an entry-level title: no intern, graduate, junior, or trainee roles at all. If you are early career, this feed is not where your search lives. Look wider. Contract and training routes into the same teams work too.

Typical reported ranges by seniority#

The figures below are typical reported ranges for full-time data and AI roles in Ireland, and they vary by company, by city, and by how the total package is structured. Verify them against current official sources and live job postings before you rely on any of them.

Junior analyst or data analyst, roughly 1 to 2 years in: EUR 32,000 to EUR 42,000 per year.

Mid-level data scientist or data engineer, 3 to 5 years: EUR 55,000 to EUR 75,000 per year.

Senior data scientist, senior ML engineer, or staff-level individual contributor: EUR 80,000 to EUR 110,000 per year.

Lead, principal, or engineering manager in data and AI: EUR 110,000 to EUR 145,000 per year.

Dublin sits at the top of most bands and Cork runs lower, sometimes meaningfully so, because the cost base and the employer mix are different. A senior title at a startup is not the same pay as a senior title at a large US tech employer with an Irish office. Titles lie. Scope does not.

How Irish pay packages are actually built#

Base salary is one line. What sits around it moves the real number a lot.

Annual bonus is common in larger tech employers, usually a target percentage of base and higher for managers, so ask whether the target is contractual or discretionary and what was actually paid out in the last two years. Promised bonus and paid bonus are not the same number.

Equity or RSUs show up in US-headquartered firms, and the headline grant value means nothing until you know the vesting schedule, the refresh policy, and the current share price. Do not count unvested equity as salary.

A 13th month payment is not standard in Ireland the way it is in some European markets. Some employers offer it anyway. Ask.

Pension employer contribution is real money. Irish employers contribute to a pension scheme or PRSA, and the match varies, so a 5% employer contribution on a EUR 80,000 base is worth EUR 4,000 a year you would otherwise have to earn pre-tax to build privately.

Health insurance, income protection, and life cover are common in larger firms and they have cash value. Price them. Then compare offers on total package, not headline.

There is no "CTC" culture in Ireland the way there is in India or the Gulf. You will usually see base quoted and bonus and benefits listed separately, so if a recruiter gives you a single lump figure, ask for a line-by-line breakdown.

Do not treat any statutory figure you find online as fixed. Rules on minimum wage, employment permits, and salary thresholds for work authorisation change and differ by permit type, so check the current official source, such as the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, before you quote a number in a negotiation.

How to negotiate an offer#

Start before the offer. When a recruiter asks for your expectations, give a range anchored on your research rather than on your last payslip, because in Ireland there is no obligation to disclose your current salary and doing so usually costs you money.

Ask three questions early: what is the band for this role, how is the total package structured, and what is the approval process for going above the midpoint. The answers tell you whether there is room at all. No room? Move on.

Then negotiate on the whole package, not just base, because if they cannot move on salary there is often flexibility on a signing payment, a higher bonus target, an earlier equity vest, or a review date written into the offer letter.

Get it in writing. Verbal promises about a six-month review are worth nothing once you have started.

For scripts and counter-offer wording, the free salary negotiation guide walks through the exact phrasing.

A worked example#

Say you are a mid-level data scientist in Dublin interviewing at a company like the ones above. Your research puts the mid band around EUR 65,000 to EUR 75,000 per year. They offer EUR 62,000 base with a 10% target bonus and 5% employer pension.

A strong counter reads like this: "Thanks for the offer, I am keen on the role. Based on comparable data scientist roles in Dublin and the scope we discussed, I was expecting base in the EUR 70,000 to EUR 75,000 per year range. Is there room to move the base, or can we look at a signing payment and a review at six months to close the gap?"

That script names a number, gives a reason, and offers a fallback. It does not beg. It does not bluff.

What to check before you apply#

• Read the full job description for seniority signals, not just the title.
• Note whether the employer is direct or an agency, and ask who the end client is.
• Write down your minimum acceptable total package before the first call.
• Research the band using live listings and your own network, not one salary site.
• Prepare one sentence that states your range, and practise it out loud.
• Ask about bonus target, equity, pension contribution, and any 13th month payment in the same conversation.
• Confirm the working pattern: on-site in Dublin or Cork, hybrid, or remote.

Where the wider market sits#

For country-level context, the JobRise Hiring Report: Ireland shows 434 open listings across all categories, with 344 posted in the last 30 days. Data and AI is 20 of those, so it is a small slice of a much larger feed. Do not read one number without the other.

FAQ#

Should I tell an Irish recruiter my current salary?

No. There is no requirement to disclose it, and doing so anchors your offer to your past rather than to the role's value. Give a range based on the market instead.

Are the salary figures here guaranteed?

No. They are typical reported ranges for full-time roles and they vary by company, city, and seniority. Verify against current official sources and live job postings before relying on them.

Why do so few Irish data jobs list a pay range?

Employers often treat pay bands as internal information and prefer to test your expectations first. Push back politely by asking for the band before you invest in interviews.

Is bonus part of my salary?

No, bonus is separate and usually discretionary or target-based. Ask what percentage is typical for the role and what was actually paid in the last two years.

Do I need a work permit for a data role in Ireland?

It depends on your nationality and the role. Employment permit rules and any salary thresholds change, so check the current official guidance from the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment before you apply.