About half of all last year's physiotherapy graduates have been unable to find permanent employment in the Irish health service, a report drawn up in the Department of Health reveals.
The document, prepared in the Department for Secretary General Michael Scanlan, maintains that a further 152 people will graduate from the current four physiotherapy schools in the State this year.
The report says that at present there is a significant demand for senior physiotherapists but fewer opportunities for newly qualified graduates.
"In late 2006, the HSE advertised 81 primary care physiotherapy posts and there will be a further 62 development posts in physiotherapy in areas such as services for persons with disability and older person's services," it says.
"The majority of these posts - which should be filled in the coming months - are at senior level, but their filling should provide employment opportunities for recent graduates through backfill," according to the report.
It says that as the development posts are taken up by senior physiotherapists, or by more qualified basic graduates currently in the system, "a gap will be left over for the recent physiotherapy graduates".
The report says there is not an oversupply of physiotherapists in the State. "The Bacon report [ Current and future supply and demand conditions in the labour market for certain professional therapists], produced in March 2001, recommended an increase in physiotherapy training places, following which additional training places were provided.
"There continues to be a growing demand for physiotherapy services and this is likely to continue as was highlighted in the healthcare skills monitoring report [ Fás, August 2005] and as evidenced by the number of development posts planned for the physiotherapy profession in the coming years," the document states.
The Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (ISCP) said last week that graduate employment opportunities continued to be a major concern.
However, the society said that the figures regarding 47 per cent unemployment for physiotherapy graduates in 2006 had been calculated last year and may not represent the current position today.
In a statement, Edel Callanan of the Physiotherapists Vocational Group said: "The ISCP are part of the focus group within the HSE and they are working to optimise opportunities for staff grade physiotherapists.
"The group is focusing on areas including delays in recruitment, designation of development posts, ratio of staff grades to senior physiotherapists, and increasing opportunities for the employment of staff grade physiotherapists in primary care," Ms Callanan said.
"The availability of facilities for treating patients, primary care, and appropriate senior physiotherapist support for staff grade physiotherapists are key concerns of the ISCP," she added.