Intel to create 1,600 jobs in Ireland

Great news.

Intel is to create 1,600 high-tech jobs in Ireland as well as more than double its current manufacturing space here, once it has completed the construction of a new chip manufacturing plant at its campus in Kildare. The US multinational unveiled plans for its expansion on Tuesday night and said it had invested an additional $7bn in its manufacturing facilities in Leixlip over the past three years.

"This investment is designed to bring Intel’s latest generation 7nm process technology to the region and expand our manufacturing operations," Eamonn Sinnott, Intel Ireland's general manager, said.

"It will also drive economic growth in the region, creating 1,600 permanent high-tech jobs once complete and over 5,000 construction jobs."

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar said the expansion is a big win for Ireland. "It’s another huge vote of confidence in Ireland’s future," he said. "The company has demonstrated not just longevity and resilience in its 32 years in Ireland but an ambition to continuously innovate and develop. "That growth has been of enormous benefit to the entire country." Intel has been in Ireland since 1989 and currently employs just under 5,000 people in total in Ireland, most of whom work in Leixlip, while a small number are based in offices in Cork and Shannon. "Since 1989, we have invested $15 billion in current manufacturing capacity in Europe, ensuring that Intel is one of the largest and most advanced semiconductor manufacturing operations in the region," Sinnott said. "But we're not stopping there. In an effort to more than double Intel's available manufacturing space in Ireland and Europe, we have invested an additional $7 billion from 2019 to 2021 in an ongoing expansion."