Google currently employs about 1,600 people at the Google offices in Dublin. Now, according to reports in the newspapers over the weekend, the internet giant is creating a further 200 jobs in Dublin, with a new investment in a shared services that will bring its workforce in Ireland about 1,800 people.
The plan is one of several major jobs projects in the pipeline. IDA Ireland is set to make three other jobs announcements - one in financial services and two in internet-related firms - in the next two weeks.
O’Leary said that companies were being attracted to invest in Ireland again because the country’s competitiveness was improving, with cuts in wages and other costs.
The number of site visits by firms interested in investing was up by 50 per cent in the first quarter of the year, and is back to levels not seen since 2007, according to the IDA boss.
He said that Ireland’s international reputation was ‘‘under a lot of pressure’’ last year, but he was now more optimistic about multinational investment as overseas economies recovered. He said Ireland could benefit from growth in particular sectors, such as IT.
Projects that will create more than 500 jobs in financial services have also been agreed by the IDA, The Sunday Business Post understands. Informed sources said that an average of one project a week was being approved in the financial sector by the state agency.
