The Economic and Social Research Institute has published a study which finds the pay gap between workers in the public and private sector is 26%.
Last month, the ESRI came to a similar conclusion based on factors such as education and qualifications.
This time the ESRI applied a different methodology, using job evaluations, and came up with largely the same result.
However, it found significant variations within the public sector.
The so-called 'public sector premium' is lowest in the civil service and local authorities where workers earn an average 9% to 12% more than counterparts in the private sector.
The premium is greatest in the education sector where pay in the institutes of technology and the universities give rise to a premium of 52.6%.
In security services, gardaí and prison officers earn a high premium, but army workers are on less than their private sector counterparts.
The study did not take account of pensions or benefits-in-kind.
