A US insurance company will today announce plans to create 200 jobs at a software service centre in Carlow town.
The new Irish arm of Unum will provide technology services and quality assurance to its US parent, which specialises in providing employee benefits and group and individual disability income protection insurance.
An initial 100 software developers and graduates will be recruited by the end of next year. A further 100 staff are likely to be hired at a later stage, depending on the initial project's success.
Unum plans to work closely with Carlow's Institute of Technology, which has a school of science and computing, to attract graduates.
The IDA Ireland-supported investment was unveiled today by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin.
"The arrival of Unum to Ireland is excellent news and again underlines the strength of our inward investment offering in the global marketplace," Mr Martin said.
"Unum is the market leader in the US group income rotection market and works with more than 40 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies. It has been chosen by almost one in every five US employers who offer group disability insurance cover."
Unum employs 10,000 people worldwide and has total annual revenues of over $10.5 billion.