A new dawn of financial regulation in Ireland is supposed to have been ushered in under the Central Bank of Ireland Commission – a decidedly more toothy watchdog for the financial system. It also promises a raft of new jobs, so when are these likely to be created?

On Friday it was finally formally announced that the Financial Regulator and Central Bank would merge to create the new financial watchdog.

The new organisation will be bigger, better and more heavy-handed in its approach and, finance minister Brian Lenihan, said:

“The reforms will be supported by a significant expansion of regulatory capacity within the new structure. Substantial additional staff with the skills, experience and market-based expertise needed to meet the objectives of the new structures will be appointed. Those recruited will also have the expertise to regulate the international financial services sector.”

There’s just one issue – the Central Bank as was has already closed applications for 20 positions around the new regulator and tells us it currently has no plans to recruit additional staff beyond this.

This recruitment drive, you might remember, is in addition to the 20 banking supervisors hired earlier in the year. This time, the regulator received around 800 applications for the posts.

"There’s been a move back to traditional jobs at the moment, and the security offered by working for the Central Bank or any government institution is very appealing right now," says Paul Cotter, director of Cotter Personnel.

All eyes are currently on the one position the new Commission definitely is recruiting for – the head of financial regulation.

“This needs to be a very senior person, independent and with clout that can articulate risk factors clearly and highlight when risk is moving outside the agreed parameters," Garvan O’Neill of PricewaterhouseCoopers told the Irish Times.

And, although the Central Bank governor John Hurley will remain in his current post, he’s due to retire shortly, possibly in the Autumn, which means a person suitable for the new approach of the regulator will have to be chosen.