There are 2,000 jobs available in Ireland for German speakers.

On Friday, German Irish Chamber of Commerce president Ralf Zimmerman, speaking at the trade body's annual Christmas lunch, asked the audience to tell any German speakers they know to get in touch with the chamber as its members are seeking to fill vacancies with candidates who can speak the language.

The Irish Independent reports that around 2,000 people are employed in Ireland due to their knowledge of German, the most widely spoken language in western Europe. However, only 4,300 higher level candidates sat the Leaving Certificated in the language last year, compared to 13,720 students  who chose French.

Enterprise Ireland boss Frank Ryan also stressed the importance of languages. "I'm often asked what is the world's most important business language," said Mr Ryan. "The answer is your customer's language."

He added that Ireland should push language teaching in schools while also preserving the teaching of Irish.

"I think the government's legacy should be that we boldly acted...to become a multilingual society," said Ryan.