The Irish and Spanish job markets were the most active in Europe in the second quarter of the year, a new survey shows.

According to the Robert Walters European Job Index, the number of jobs advertised in Ireland rose by 19 per cent in the year to the second quarter of 2015, and by 4 per cent on the first quarter. This compares with annual growth of 21 per cent in Spain,

While Dublin remained the main hub for jobs in Ireland, accounting for 20 per cent of job ads, professionals in cities outside the capital were also in high demand, with adverts across all sectors up 17 per cent year-on-year. Sectors like HR, IT and secretarial and support saw strong increases in job advertising volumes when compared to the same period last year, up 32 per cent, 15 per cent and 31 per cent, respectively.

Banking and financial services professionals were also in demand, with job ads up 14 per cent year-on-year.

Recruitment activity in the legal sector also continued to rise, with a 6 per cent year-on-year increase in job advertisements. Senior, experienced solicitors were particularly sought-after, Robert Walters said, especially those within the field of data privacy and the related regulatory issues.