IDA Ireland secured a record number of investments last year, according to new figures released today.

The organisation, which is responsible for attracting companies to the country, said 148 investments were secured in 2011 despite the global economic situation. In addition, there was a 30 per cent increase in the number of companies investing in Ireland for the first time.

Of the 148 investments made last year, 61 were from multinational companies setting up operations here while 87 were made by existing client companies. Of existing client investments, 46 were expansions while 41 were in research and development.

IDA Ireland said client companies created over 13,000 new jobs here last year, up 20 per cent on the previous year's 10,897 positions. A total of 6,950 jobs were lost at IDA supported firms last year, leading to a net gain of 6,114 jobs overall. The number of job losses from client companies was 25 per cent lower than in 2010.

The number of people directed employed by IDA client companies in Ireland is nearly 146,000.

The ICT, lifesciences, financial services, business services and digital media sectors made up for the majority of newly created jobs in 2011.

Client company investments in the country rose 17 per cent last year, the agency said.

Amongst the most significant investments in Ireland included announcements by Twitter, Intel, IBM, Coca-Cola, Amgen, Pfizer, PayPal, VMware and Analog Devices.

“Ireland continued to win significant foreign direct investment in 2011, despite a difficult economic environment. Most encouraging has been the increase in job numbers and the rise in the number of investments from IDA client companies,” said IDA Ireland chief executive Barry O'Leary.

“Export led growth, particularly in services, is adding to the employment portfolio of IDA’s clients, which created over 13,000 new jobs in 2011. This represents a 20 per cent increase on last year. Job losses were at their lowest in over a decade leading to the best net jobs increase in over 10 years," he added.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton also welcomed the results.

“Not only has the number of new jobs increased substantially, but just as importantly the number of jobs lost has decreased, leaving a very healthy net employment increase,” said Mr Bruton. He added that the Government’s action plan for jobs will build on the success of last year’s foreign investment.

“If we are to create the numbers of new jobs we need in order to address the massive employment challenges we face, we must build aggressively on the major strengths we have in the foreign multinational sector,” said Mr Bruton.

IDA client companies spend an €19 billion in the Irish economy, according to estimates and are responsible for two-thirds of business-spend on research & development.

Cook Medical, the largest privately owned medical device company in the world, announced today it is to invest up to €16.5million over four years at its Limerick site with IDA support.

Cetra, a US-headquartered language translation company, is to create 20 jobs with the establishment of a European service centre in Limerick.

In addition, leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider Workday announced it is to create 100 new positions in Dublin over the next three years. Workday, headquartered in the US, currently employs more than 950 people worldwide.