The IDA has said it aims to secure as many as possible of the 900 jobs that may be at risk at printing giant Xerox's offices at Ballycoolin in northwest Dublin.
But the Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin, who has been briefed on the matter by the agency, has no plans to intervene directly.
The possible job losses arise from Xerox's outsourcing deal with IBM Global Services announced by the companies last month and which, contrary to what was communicated at the time, could see the jobs moved to cheaper international locations.
The new deal between Xerox and IBM comes into effect at the beginning of next month.
Xerox says it has entered into an "information and consultation phase" with the 900 employees involved, and has confirmed that IBM will "draw upon its global delivery capacity" to deliver services to Xerox.
It is understood that among the possible locations for this are Sofia in Bulgaria, Bangalore in India, Manila in the Philippines and Greenock in Scotland.
There will be a transition period of up to 18 months. It is understood that this is likely to lead to redundancies, offers of redeployment for some, and a degree of natural attrition as others leave their jobs during that period.
Announcing the new contract last month, Xerox told journalists that there would be no job losses and staff would transfer to IBM under the same terms and conditions they currently enjoyed. They also said staff would continue to work in the same location.
As the Opposition last night accused the Government of "sleepwalking" into the threat to Irish jobs posed by outsourcing, a spokeswoman for the IDA said it had learned a week after the announcement of the deal that the Irish jobs were at risk from the move.
The spokeswoman would not comment when asked whether it felt it had been "duped" by the company, but stressed that the authority has an "ongoing relationship" with both companies. Some 800 workers will continue to be employed by Xerox in Ireland.
The IDA had entered into a consultation process to determine the impact of the proposed outsourcing, the spokeswoman added.
The IDA had not met the companies yesterday but was continuing to engage with them.
"We will now work with IBM to sustain and secure as many of the activities and positions as possible in Ireland," she said.
A spokeswoman for Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin last night said he rejected Fine Gael claims that the Government had not done anything to address the threat posed by outsourcing and growing pressures on competitiveness.
Mr Martin was briefed on the situation at Xerox by the IDA's chief executive, Seán Dorgan, last week, she said.
While he would not be intervening, he was being kept up to date on developments.
The proposed reform of the ESB was one way the Government had acted to address high electricity costs here, while wage levels were another significant factor, she said.
It is understood that, due to projected growth in the labour market here, there is some confidence within Government circles that alternative employment for some or all of the affected Xerox employees might be found.