FROM TODAYS INDO--4 WEEKS PAID HOLS/SICK PAY ETC
Builders now earn more and work fewer hours than at start of decade
RORY MCGINN
Builders are earning €255 more per week, on average, than they were six years ago despite working fewer paid hours, according to an analysis of Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures.
Construction workers earned €834.22 a week at the beginning of 2020. That had jumped to €1,089.21 by the second quarter of this year.
That means average weekly incomes in the sector have increased by €254.99 over the period, although figures vary across the broad mix of construction trades, which range from labourers to surveyors.
Strikingly, pay is up, but hours worked are down. The average paid working week in construction has fallen from 37.6 hours in the first quarter of 2020 to 36.5 hours now.
An analysis of CSO earnings data by the Irish Independent compared pay in the first quarter of 2020 with the latest figures for the second quarter of 2026, looking at construction, gardaí, education, health and the civil service.
The rise in construction incomes is driven by higher hourly earnings, which have climbed from €22.17 at the start of 2020 to €29.88 now. Construction workers now earn €7.71 more for each paid hour than they did six years ago.
Increased pay has also been seen across most areas of the economy.
Education workers are earning €1,260.40 per week, up from €993.54 in Q1 2020 - an increase of €266.86 per week. They have the highest hourly pay of the groups looked at, rising from €41.14 in early 2020 to €50.94 now.
Average paid hours in education have changed relatively little over the period, increasing from 24.1 hours per week to 24.7 hours. Health workers are close behind educators, with weekly pay of €1,252.91 in Q2 this year. That has increased from €978.66 at the start of 2020 - a rise of €274.25.
The average paid working week in health has fallen from 34.8 hours to 33.6 hours over the six-year period, and hourly pay has climbed from €28.16 to €37.30.
Civil servants, meanwhile, received €1,210.58 per week in the second quarter of 2026. That is €268.89 more than the €941.69 recorded in Q1 2020.
Their paid hours have fell slightly, from 36.8 hours per week to 36 hours. Hourly earnings have risen from €25.62 to €33.59 over the same period.
Gardaí remain the highest weekly earners among the groups looked at.
Members of An Garda Síochána received €1,833.73 per week in Q2 this year, compared with €1,278.24 at the start of 2020. That represents an increase of €555.49 over the six-year period. Their hourly pay has risen from €30.33 to €42.48. Across the public sector as a whole, workers are now earning €1,261.16 per week, compared with €989.96 in Q1 2020 - an increase of €271.20.
The more recent figure is above the €1,046.88 weekly average across the wider economy.
