Healthcare Occupations

Key points for selected healthcare occupations

• There were approximately 98,000 persons employed in healthcare occupations, representing 5.4% of the national workforce
• Approximately 86,000 persons or almost 90% of employment was at professional level (primarily in nursing and midwifery)
• Nurses and midwives had the third largest workforce in the economy as a whole, after sales and retail assistants and farmers
• Employment increased by 1.6% on average annually over the period 2007-2011 (a net 6,100 additional jobs); employment of physiotherapists, health associate professionals and medical practitioners grew at average annual rates well above the national average during that period; the largest absolute increases in employment were recorded for these occupations; in contrast, employment of pharmacists and nurses and midwives remained relatively static
• However, almost 60% of the net job creation experienced during the period 2007-2011 was eliminated by the net 3,600 job losses recorded between 2010 and 2011; in absolute terms, the largest contraction in employment was for nurses and midwives
• Approximately four fifths of overall employment in healthcare occupations was in the 25-54 age cohort
• The majority of persons employed in healthcare occupations were third level graduates ― approximately 90% and 70% of those employed in professional and associate professional occupations held third level qualifications respectively
• While almost 80% of the overall workforce of healthcare occupations was female,males accounted for approximately 70% of the workforce of medical practitioners
• Approximately 30% of the workforce of medical practitioners was composed of non-Irish nationals ― one of the highest shares among all professional occupations in the national workforce

Shortage Indicators

Employment opportunities in the public healthcare sector remain limited. Nonetheless, skills shortages persist for the following healthcare occupations:

• Medical practitioners: non-consultant hospital doctors (particularly for senior house officer (SHO) and registrar grades) and radiologists. There were just under 300 new employment permits issued to non-EEA doctors in 2011.93
• Specialist nurses: clinical nursing managers, advanced nursing practitioners in intensive care, theatre, radiology and general nurses for elderly people care. There were 150 new employment permits issued to non-EEA nurses in 2011.
• Radiographers: Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) radiographers and sonographers.