Dublin is home to the highest-paid chartered management accountants in the Republic, according to a survey of 1,200 members of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

The survey, sponsored by Premier Recruitment looked at salaries and remuneration packages, at all levels from managing directors to trainee accountants,including average salaries and benefits such as company cars, pensions, health insurance contributions and share options.

The average management accountant in Dublin took home an annual package worth more than €81,000 last year. Accountants in Cork and Kerry made more than €77,000 in 2005. In 2004 accountants in Cork reported an average package worth more than €80,000.

The average salaries have remained "broadly the same" and are "still very high by Irish standards," Dr Tony White, director of CIMA in Ireland, said.

The demand for accountants remains high and the survey's findings reflected a "buoyant time for the economy," he said in a statement.

In the last year, more than 17 per cent of respondents had changed jobs and almost 50 per cent of them turned to recruitment agencies to find their next position. A total of 47 per cent characterized the job market as buoyant or very buoyant.

Accountants in the telecommunications industry were paid the most, with an average salary of more than €126,000. Accountants in the fast-moving consumer goods sector made about €103,000 a year. CIMA members in financial services took home more than €100,000, while the construction industry averaged about €99,700.

Overall, managing directors earned more than €167,000. The highest package for them was more than €468,000 and the smallest was €50,000.

More than 85 per cent of those surveyed had a third-level qualification and about 40 per cent had formal training during the last year.