A Sligo software company is to create 230 jobs over the next five years in a £7.8 million expansion scheme supported by Enterprise Ireland, the Tβnaiste, Ms Harney, announced yesterday.
Ms Harney said the expansion at Transware plc represented "a crucial vote of confidence in the continued success of the Irish economy" coming as it did "hard on the heels of a number of setbacks" in the IT industry.
She said it demonstrated that the technology industry would continue to play an important part in all our lives.
It was also an endorsement of Enterprise Ireland's strategy of facilitating expansions of Dublin-based companies in regional locations, she said.
The announcement comes just two weeks after more than 130 jobs were lost in Sligo when Hanson Industries closed.
The bathroom scales manufacturer was one of the longer-established factories in the town.
Transware said yesterday the jobs would be created despite the downturn in the economy. Company vice-president Mr Conor Toomey said global economic uncertainty was "a concern for everyone" but he believed the five-year time scale would mean all 230 jobs would materialise.
He said the company was getting "a steady flow of business" although it was not "the same massive amount of last year".
The firm specialises in the translation of e-learning software used in corporate training.
Software is translated into more than 20 languages and much of the basic work is outsourced to translators in a number of different countries.
It employs staff in Europe, Asia and America as well as a number of people who have returned to Sligo.
It was established in Dublin in 1996 and set up an office in Sligo in 1999 in a pilot operation supported by Enterprise Ireland. Employment has grown to 60 in Sligo.
Ms Harney said Transware would provide a major contribution to the local economy in the years ahead.
"Today's announcement also represents a ringing endorsement of the Government's strategy of driving growth in regional enterprise," she said.
The chief executive of Transware, Mr Kieran McBride, praised the strong support received from Enterprise Ireland, local businesses and the Institute of Technology in Sligo.