New IDA-supported investments to lead to 560 jobs

21 Jul 2011

Foreign direct investment is on track to reach its targets this year in Ireland and six new announcements will result in a total of 560 jobs being created, IDA Ireland CEO Barry O’Leary said at a briefing event this morning.

He was announcing the agency’s first-half results for 2011, which show that the number of first-time (new name) investors to Ireland, existing companies making new investments and research, development and innovation (RD&I) investments are all higher compared to the same period in 2010.

The growth in the number of new-name investors was particularly strong, climbing by 40pc, with 28 companies deciding to invest in Ireland for the first time.

At the briefing, Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton, TD, announced new investments from Belgian, Dutch and US companies which, in addition to an announcement by Allianz this morning, will create more than 300 new jobs. O’Leary said a further announcement by a “world-leading company” is expected tomorrow, which will bring the total up to 560 jobs being created.

Belgian software company, BSB and San Diego-based global biopharmaceutical company Sangart are both creating 120 jobs, in Dublin and Cork, respectively, while Dutch giant Wolters Kluwer is investing in R&D in its financial services business, creating 13 new positions to join its 55-person centre in Dublin involved in regulatory compliance and risk management technology provision.

Leading new names to Ireland include Quest Software in Cork, Amgen, the No 1 biopharmaceutical company in the world, and Gilt Groupe, which is establishing centres in Dublin and Limerick.

Two key sectors being targeted by IDA include cloud computing and financial analytics. In the past year, Ireland has secured nine cloud computing investments, including Dell, EMC, HP and Microsoft and six financial analytics investments, including D&B and Accenture.

In addition to leading multinational companies, IDA is targeting second-tier and emerging high-growth companies, such as Zynga, Marketo, Mycroft (Waterford) and Zenimax Online Studios (Galway).

Photo: Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton, TD

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