The promotion of family-friendly working arrangements took a step further yesterday with the news that IBM is to invest $500,000 (€533,846) on creches for its Irish operations.

The announcement follows plans by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to allocate £4 million (€5.08 million) for the promotion of family-friendly policies and an additional £250 million for the development of a childcare infrastructure. The new investment from IBM, which has plants in Ballycoolin and Mulhuddart in Dublin and headquarters in the city centre, is part of a new $50 million global fund to help its employees better balance their work and personal lives.

The facility will serve approximately 94 children from infancy to school age and around two dozen additional school-age children.

Mr Ted Childs, IBM's vice-president of global workforce diversity, said he hoped to see IBM working with other companies to address issues concerning the quality of life and productivity.

"It is the hope of our management teams . . . that, where appropriate, they will be able to collaborate with other local firms and pool our money to address these issues on behalf of our collective workforces," he said.

Ms Paula Hynes, spokeswoman for Network Ireland, an Irish organisation representing women in business, said: "It's great to see companies with the stature of IBM making such huge positive and pro-active moves and it says a lot about what the company thinks about its employees. It may well set standards for other companies to follow."