Yahoo, the world's biggest internet portal, said yesterday it would create up to 400 jobs over the next five years in Dublin.
The US firm, which already employs 200 people in Dublin at its internet advertising subsidiary Overture, said it had chosen the Republic as a base for its European operations headquarters.
Its new office will be based in the East Point Business Park and will become a hub for several operating functions such as financial services for Yahoo's European businesses, web hosting and customer support activities.
The State agency IDA Ireland is supporting the multimillion euro project, which will employ a range of skilled staff - three-quarters of whom will hold at least one third-level qualification.
Yahoo's decision to locate in Dublin follows similar investment decisions made by other big internet firms, including Google, eBay and Amazon.
Mr Dan Rosensweig, chief operating officer of Yahoo, said the company had evaluated a range of European locations before choosing the Republic.
He said the key reasons for choosing Dublin as its European operations headquarters were access to skilled labour, telecoms infrastructure, flexibility of Government and Ireland's track record as a base for US firms.
Yahoo has a global network of websites operating in 25 countries and is planning to expand its operations across Europe and Asia. Its operations headquarters in the Republic will provide much of the infrastructure that will enable it to expand into new markets across Europe and Asia.
Mr Rosensweig said that just a few years ago international operations at Yahoo accounted for just 15 per cent of the firm's revenue but, in 2005, these operations would be worth 25 per cent.
The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Micheál Martin, said the new investment confirmed the Republic's ongoing competitiveness for inward investment projects of this nature. He said the Government looked forward to building a successful relationship with Yahoo over the next few years.
IDA Ireland did not disclose the level of financial support that it would provide to the company.
IDA Ireland's chief executive, Mr Seán Dorgan, emphasised the importance of the Government's decision several years ago to invest in an international telecoms link with the US.
This deal, which was agreed with the US firm Global Crossing had radically cut the cost of hosting internet sites in Dublin, he said.
Yahoo said yesterday it would host its websites in Dublin; however, it would not disclose whether it was building a data centre or using existing facilities.
Yahoo is the most visited family of websites globally, delivering 2.85 billion page views per day in December 2004. Its list of more than 100 directories and services on its internet portal are available in 13 languages.
The company is one of the world's fastest-growing companies. Last month it reported 2004 annual revenues of $3.57 billion, up from $1.63 billion a year earlier. Yahoo is profitable, making net income of $839 million, up from $237 million in 2003.
