Projects involving up to 3,000 new jobs are expected to be announced by the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, over the coming weeks.

Millions of pounds in grant aid for the jobs was sanctioned by the Cabinet yesterday - the scale of posts involved is the largest approved at a single Cabinet meeting.

The first project is expected to be announced today. It is believed to involve a 250-jobs expansion by the highly-successful and now publicly-quoted Qualceram group, based in Arklow, Co Wicklow.

It is understood the projects include 700 replacement jobs for the Seagate operation in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, which closed last year. A US-based medical devices manufacturer is creating 500 jobs in Munster. The State already boasts a significant number of such operators, including Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific, although it is believed that the company involved does not currently have an operation here.

Four of the eight projects approved yesterday involve expansions by existing companies, while the other four are new firms setting up here. Andersen Consulting is set to announce an expansion involving more than 150 new jobs. Several other companies are engaged in the high-tech sector.

The Qualceram project will be located in the old Noritake/ Arklow pottery building in Co Wicklow, which closed last March with the loss of more than 100 jobs. Qualceram which makes bathroom ware and caters for the luxury end of the market, currently employs more than 100 people. Last year it examined the possibility of establishing a "bathroom furniture" manufacturing plant.

The company's profits grew last year to £1.76 million, from £1.56 million the previous year. The firm floated in 1997 and is currently valued at around £30 million. Sixty per cent of the new jobs will be located outside Dublin.

Late last night Ms Harney said that it was the most significant level of jobs projects approved at Cabinet since the Government took office. However, she refused to be drawn on specific projects.

In the past year Ms Harney has announced projects involving the creation of almost 22,000 jobs. Around 75 per cent have been located outside Dublin, with approximately 4,500 in Dublin and a further 4,500 in Cork.

The most recent large-scale jobs project involved Rank Xerox which last month announced 2,200 jobs for Dundalk and Dublin - 1,500 will be in Dundalk.

The project was seen as a significant coup for the IDA which has been chasing the company for years. The firm manufactures photocopiers, fax machine scanners and digital imaging products.

Some of the final details which preceded yesterday's Cabinet decision were hammered out when Ms Harney visited the US in March. It is believed that the medical devices project - a key sector for growth which is being strongly targeted by IDA Ireland - was also the subject of intense discussions during the visit.

It will not become apparent for some time how much grant aid the Exchequer will be providing. Last year the IDA helped to create a record 14,930 jobs and paid out a total of £134 million in grants.