One of the world's leading Internet search engines is to base its European headquarters in Dublin, it was reported today.
After much speculation over where the headquarters are to be located, Google was expected to announce Dublin as its choice as early as today.
Sources told RTÉ that a formal announcement would be made in the near future, creating more than 200 jobs.
It is estimated that Google technology is used for more than half of all Internet searches - helping people find sites by typing in key words.
Google has an index of more than three billion web pages and responds to more than 200 million search queries every day.
The privately-owned company has its headquarters in California and employs around 500 people.
It is believed that the downturn in Ireland's technology sector has freed up space that could be used by Google.
PA