Irish accountants lured back from Oz

Irish recruiters want expat accountants with experience in Australian banks to swap Bondi beach for the rainy streets of Dublin, and they're hopping down under to find them.

Robert Walters and Hudson are among the recruiters trying to bring Australia's Irish accountants back home. It seems that Australia is the location of choice for Irish qualified accountants. And after a couple of years in the top banks in Oz, they're hot property should they decide to return.

Louise Campbell, director of Robert Walters in Ireland, says: "Just about every Irish accountant goes to Australia for experience. We want to show that there are ample opportunities in the Irish market in spite of the pessimism surrounding employment at the moment."

But latest figures from the Central Statistics Agency suggest the flow is more likely to be in the opposite direction, with thousands of skilled Irish workers in areas like financial services heading to Australia and New Zealand to escape the flailing domestic economy.

Nicola Kavanagh, banking and finance manager at Hudson in Ireland, says there are fewer opportunities in Ireland than there were last year, but that there's still a shortage of qualified accountants with banking experience. "Hence we're looking to Australia," she explains.

But Greg O'Hanlon, executive search consultant at recruiters Dalríada, who spent time working within a big Australian bank, tells us that expats are more cautious about returning to Ireland.

"People won't return to Ireland without a firm job offer, which is difficult to get without some face-to-face interviews. I think this is why more recruiters will have to make the trip to Australia to lure the talent home," he says.