FINANCIAL services firms in Dublin now have to hire executives overseas because of a skills gap at the higher levels of the sector, a new survey has shown. According to Amrop International, an executive recruitment company, 74 per cent of the larger companies in Dublin's IFSC needed to search abroad for qualified and experienced staff. Many said they would be happy to hire Irish candidates if they could find them.

"This is the same problem we faced with the growth of the manufacturing sector in Ireland some 20 years ago," said Mr Jim McCrohan, managing partner of Amrop International Ireland.