there is no official iaa recruitment drive for direct entry atcos at the moment, however, there is a word of mouth thing going on. for reasons that i wont get into, the iaa are contacting anyone that drops in a cv, or contacts them directly, to see if they would be interested in joining them for a fixed period of time .... 2/3 years - depending on who you talk to.
alwaysmovin has got it mostly right - but the max no. of rostered nights is about 90 per annum.
the iaa recently held a competition for cadets, with a view to starting 2 classes of 24 in 2008. they have only now realised that they cannot release the staff from ops to train this intake ( almost all instructors rotate from ops to training!) so 1 class will start in february, and a second class of 24 is in a holding pool with no definate start date.
the direct entry atcos are to bolster the numbers until the cadets come on line.the iaa and the atco union have had some negotiations on this matter. the atco union view is that once the cadets are trained, the direct entries will not get a renewed contract, as the cadet scheme should continue to provide the required staff!
as for remuneration, i dont have the exact figures, but my understanding is that the starting point of the atco scale will be the base for the direct entries ( about €60k ) with 31 days annual leave - if you can take them!
those figures are open to correction.
morale is low, leave is almost non existant, the roster is tough,in fact there have been 4 different rosters in as many years, to try to fix the staff shortfalls, and another one being planned for april. however dont take my word for it, if you contact the iaa,
www.iaa.ie, i'm sure that they will paint a better picture for you!
good luck
