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A HUGE new investment in Ireland by Hewlett Packard will create 300 jobs immediately and could ultimately provide 1,000

A HUGE new investment in Ireland by Hewlett Packard will create 300 jobs immediately and could ultimately provide 1,000 or more, it was announced yesterday.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen hailed the move as "an important vote of confidence in Ireland as an investment location".

And IDA chief Barry O'Leary declared: "This is a great win for Ireland. It doesn't get much better."

A total of 500 jobs will be created over the next 12 months at the technology firm's campus in Leixlip in the areas of technical support, R&D and training. Recruitment for 300 multi-lingual workers for the company's Global Service Desk will begin immediately.

Skills

HP's managing director in Ireland, Martin Murphy, said that extensive and available language skills were a key factor behind the investment, which could create as many downstream jobs, as other companies are encouraged to Ireland by the proximity of expertise and know-how.

The decision makes Ireland a centre of excellence for large outsourced contracts for HP worldwide. The initial €18m investment is supported by the IDA.

Besides worldwide tech support, a substantial part of the growth plans involve the creation of a research, development and innovation capacity for HP in Leixlip.

The company is one of the largest multinationals in Ireland, with 4,000 jobs maintained in north Kildare, Dublin, Galway and Belfast.

The Taoiseach, flanked by Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise Mary Coughlan, congratulated HP management here for winning the investment for Ireland.

He pointed out that last year there was a 14pc increase in IDA-sponsored investment in this country.

IDA CEO Barry O'Leary said there were now 150,000 people working in multinational companies attracted to Ireland. Foreign direct investment contributed 80pc of GDP, and only the Netherlands and Singapore were ahead of Ireland in this regard.

He predicted that next year the value of Irish service exports would exceed that of manufacturing exports for the first time.

The Tanaiste hailed the quick turnaround of the decision from the time when IDA assistance was first sought.

The speed of delivery had "shot out of the water" the notion that the public service had no flexibility, she said.

HP is the world's largest technology company, and first invested in Ireland in 1975. A year ago it moved its Irish operation from Clonskeagh to a new 200-acre campus in the Liffey Technology Park.

Fianna Fail TD for Kildare North, Aine Brady, welcomed the announcement as "great news for the local people and for local businesses".

She added: "At a time of severe economic downturn and loss of jobs it is encouraging to see that investment can be generated and new jobs can be created."

Integration Minister Conor Lenihan said the availability here of a good number of people fluent in English, French, Polish and Spanish made it easier for HP to invest.

"They chose Ireland for expansion because of access to a highly skilled workforce and I know that HP will not be disappointed," he said.

Martin Murphy, MD of HP Ireland, said the development was an important milestone. "It underpins the importance of our Irish operation as a strategic location of choice for HP globally," he added.