US semiconductor designer Xilinx will create 500 jobs in a £41 million expansion of their facility at Citywest Business Park in Dublin, the Tánaiste Ms Harney announced this morning.
Xilinx, which already enploys 360 people in Citywest, said the building of the new 128,000 square foot extension will start immediately.
Xilinx chief executive Mr Wim Roelandts said at today's announcement: "The R&D capability and technical expertise which has been achieved in Dublin is second to none worldwide."
Xilinx designs and produces highly complex chips for a range of electronic systems. Ireland is Xilinx's European IT and human resource centre. The expansion will also create the largest design services group within Xilinx.
Mr Roelandts said he was confident that the slowdown in the US economy would not have a negative impact on Xilinx's business as the company was focused on the high value end of the semiconductor market.
Ms Harney noted that 75 per cent of the workforce will be software engineering graduates. "This is exactly the type of investment which the Government is targeting as part of the process of enhancing our future industrial base."
Commenting on the changes in PRSI in the December Budget Mr Paul McCambridge, managing director of Xilinx Ireland, said the changes were disappointing but would not affect the company's expansion plans.