Security software firm to create 120 jobs

SECURITY SOFTWARE specialist McAfee is set to create 120 new jobs in the Republic in an expansion that will be announced today.

The hi-tech company is to establish a sales operation for its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) division in Cork, where it already has a base.

State development agency IDA Ireland is supporting the project. The expansion means that McAfee will employ 290 people in the Republic when it recruits the numbers to be announced today.

The company employs 170 at its existing Cork operation, which was opened in 2004. The existing facility houses its software operations and international headquarters.

Staff there are involved in software development and localisation, as well as accounts and other headquarters-related activity.

The US company moved businesses here from Amsterdam earlier in the decade. A key attraction was the Republic’s low tax on corporate profits, which stands at 12.5 per cent, compared with the Netherlands’ 34 per cent.

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan is due to announce details of the project at a press conference in Cork later today.

McAfee is based in California and is a world leader in the business of developing and selling software that protects computers from viruses and hackers.

Its clients include large and small organisations, as well as personal users.

According to its most recent financial report, revenues for the second quarter of the year were up 18 per cent at $468.7 million, while net income grew 13 per cent to $94.7 million.

Earnings per share increased 15 per cent to 60 cents.

Maintaining and developing the Republic’s base of multinational investors is seen as key to protecting economic growth and job creation.