Just how buoyant is the Irish insurance recruitment market really?

It's been a mixed month for employment prospects in Ireland's insurance sector - Quinn's decision to cut 800 roles has understandably hit hard, while AXA's creation of 200 jobs in Dublin is reflective of international players' desire to expand in the country.

But what's indicative of the true situation? Is, as some have suggested, the insurance market in Ireland offering a steady stream of jobs, or can we expect more redundancies down the line?

The first quarter of this year has marked something of a positive about turn for the insurance sector. While many firms had a freeze on hiring throughout 2009, and others cut back staff numbers, there's evidence that job opportunities are emerging again.

International players like Aviva, Zurich Life and HSBC are hiring again, according to recruitment sources. Generally speaking, demand for actuaries, claims professionals and loss adjusters is likely to pick up later this year in addition to the ongoing demand for compliance and risk professionals, according to recruiters Premier Group.

"Recruitment in the insurance sector - both life and general - has still been relatively sporadic, but a number of firms have been putting feelers out into the market," says Andrea Clarkson, manager, financial services at Premier Group. "We have seen demand for claims roles increase recently, but the market is currently saturated with candidates in this respect."

It's easy to see why - the major of staff affected by the Quinn redundancies would have been working in this sector. The roles at Axa are unlikely to mitigate this - they will be within marketing, finance, IT, telephone sales, product development, customer services and policy administration.

But there are other positives; Ireland's attraction as a base for European insurance activities has meant many international firms are looking to branch out into other markets from their Dublin HQ, which is creating a steady supply of new roles.

"Sales and claims staff with language skills are increasingly in demand, as a number of firms look towards the German, Italian and Spanish markets," says James Hayes, manager - banking and financial services at Robert Walters. "There's also aggressive recruitment of actuaries and a strong demand for underwriting staff."