THREE new developments which will create over 750 jobs in Dublin over the next four years were officially announced yesterday.
Telecom, Netscape Communications Corporation and Symantec Corporation all announced developments in the software/computer technology sector.
Telecom, with its partners KPN of the Netherlands and Telia of Sweden, is to set up a joint venture software company which is expected to create up to 300 jobs in the next 3 years.
The company, Accuris, will operate in a specialist niche market producing telecommunications related software solutions for its parent companies and their affiliates. The software concerned will be designed for running the complex control networks involved in telecommunications.
Advertisements for the first 50 jobs are to appear in the national newspapers shortly. The company will be looking for experienced and highly skilled software developers.
The chief executive of Telecom Eireann, Mr Alfie Kane, said the company is confident the first tranche of employees could be found in Ireland but said there was a need for Government action if companies like Accuris are not to be strangled" by a skills shortage in the future.
While the company is expected to be profitable, it is also expected that it will produce software for its parent companies at a lower cost than would be the case if the task was put out to tender.
It is also hoped that, in time, the company will begin to sell its products to other telecommunications companies. However, Mr Kane said the reason for setting up the company was to supply its parent companies with software. It is expected the company will have a turnover of £15 million in around 3 years.
Meanwhile, the US company Netscape Communications Corporation is to set up an operation in west Dublin which is expected to employ up to 300 people over the next three years.
At the same time, Symantec Corporation has confirmed a £10 million expansion plan for its Dublin operation which is expected to lead to 153 new jobs within four years. Its US parent company is also consolidating its customer services operation in Dublin.
Netscape is based in California and develops, markets and supports software for the Internet and for mini internets within corporation known as intranets. The company employs 2,000 people. The investment package for the Irish operation is subject to final negotiation between the company and IDA Ireland.
Symantec, which is the sixth largest software company in the US, set up an operation in Blanchardstown in 1991 to carry out diskette duplication and final packaging and assembly of some two million software kit boxes a year. The company buys CDROMs and print and packaging materials in the Irish market.
The Irish operation is responsible for all the group's markets outside North America and accounts for 30 per cent of total group revenue. Set up in 1982, the group employs 2,200 people in 30 cities in the US and in 10 countries around the world.
Announcing the Symantec expansion, the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, said it will bring total employment at the company to 280 people within four years. The company is looking for administrative, manufacturing and customer services staff.
