UP TO 1,500 building jobs could be created over the next two years on the back of ten recent foreign direct investment (FDI) projects, the IDA announced today.

The IDA said that the recent flow of FDI projects would require a combined total of 1.5 m square feet, creating as many as 1,500 new jobs over two years.

The new buildings are required for life sciences, information and communications technology (ICT) and data centre sectors – with companies such as Eli Lilly, Boston Scientific, Allergan, Microsoft, Analog Devices, Google and Apple planning to construct new buildings.

IDA chief executive Barry O’Leary said the demand demonstrated the importance of the “secondary or spillover effects” that the recent FDI announcements posed for the construction industry.

Similarly, the Construction Industry Federation’s director general Tom Parlon said that FDI has been “one of the few sources for optimism” in construction at a challenging time for the sector.

“Many of the companies being brought to Ireland are undertaking major commercial and office construction projects to meet their needs, with the announcement by Apple that they are to construct a new building in Cork being the latest example,” he said. “The jobs and economic impact generated by these new projects will be a shot in the arm to the industry and we hope to see further investment in the months and years ahead.”

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