Employment
The Irish Aviation Authority employed 642 staff in 1998 - 493 in air navigation services (about 300 of these are air traffic controllers), 36 in air navigation services, 53 in commercial and training, 60 in finance, human resources, corporate policy and planning. (Information from the IAA's latest annual report, 1998.)
There are also air traffic controllers employed in regional airports (they would have been trained by the IAA but are not employees). Opportunities exist outside Ireland as English is the international language of aviation and students are trained to international standards.
Training
Two-year programme with the Irish Aviation Authority (training centre in Shannon). Advertisements appear in the national newspapers periodically. The last competition attracted some 2,000 applications for 24 places. Students are paid £7,500 per annum during their training period.
Education requirements
You must have passes in five Leaving Cert subjects including English and maths, with grade C3s in at least two higher-level papers. There is also a minimum age requirement as you must be 21 years of age before you can receive your licence.
