IRISH school principals are among Europe’s best paid — with top head teachers earning more than €100,000.

But heads in the small principality of Liechtenstein earn the most, with wage packets of up to €170,000.

Secondary school principals can earn a lot of cash

Irish principals are the seventh biggest earners out of the nearly 40 countries profiled, trousering up to €112,000 a year.

The top possible salary of €112,035 is available to the heads of secondary schools where there are 60 or more teachers.

Educators on this wage can earn twice as much as their Spanish or Italian counterparts — and nearly four times as much as head teachers in Greece.

Luxembourg places second on the list with a salary of €153,000 while our nearest neighbours in the UK are in fourth place.

British state school heads get a top wage of just over €123,000 although those in charge at private schools can earn more.

The annual salaries are revealed in a newly-released European Commission report on teachers’ pay.

School heads earn different salaries depending on the size and other characteristics of the school in more than half of the education systems.

Ireland ranks eighth in terms of a starting salary for primary school teachers and is No12 when it comes to the starting salary of a secondary school teacher.

During a teacher’s career, there is a potential for a 89 per cent boost in income.

But it found that Ireland is among the nine countries where real salaries of beginning teachers are now lower than in 2009 and 2010.