US e-commerce giant Nextag is already recruiting for some of the 125 positions it will create at its international headquarters in Drogheda, Co Louth, in the next three to five years with support from the IDA.
Workforce skills, Government support for foreign direct investment and Ireland’s corporation tax rate were among the factors that led to the company locating here, its senior vice-president of finance and corporate development Derek Yung said yesterday.
The company opened a data centre in Dublin last year.
The chief executive of IDA Ireland, Barry O’Leary, said foreign companies “are not coming to Ireland to service the Irish market nor are they coming to raise finance nor do they need to deal with the local banks”. Instead “they are looking at the talent pool here, whether we have a strong track record; do we have a good corporation tax and good technology capability; and at the ease of doing business”.
Nextag is operated by Wize Commerce and is the largest independent comparison shopping company. It is based in California.
President of Drogheda Chamber of Commerce Padraic Kierans said the investment would see an immediate benefit to the local economy of €5 million to €7 million taking “payroll and purchase of products of services” into account.
The announcement was made by Minister of State for the NewEra project Fergus O’Dowd, who said: “Foreign direct investment in Louth has more than doubled from 4.1 to 8.8 per cent over the past three years, a figure which cannot be rivalled anywhere else in Ireland.”
Last week electronic payments firm YapStone announced it was opening its European headquarters in Drogheda with 120 jobs.
