HUNDREDS OF JOBS are to be created in Leixlip, Co Kildare, as Intel has pledged to invest €5 billion in the campus.

The computer chipmaker said thousands of construction jobs will also be created through the site’s expansion, which includes upgrading existing fabrication facilities and installing new manufacturing equipment.

Intel said demand for artificial intelligence is driving their investment in advanced silicon, which makes cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power AI factories.

Naga Chandrasekaran, the general manager of Intel Foundry, said the investment in its Leixlip campus will strengthen the region’s role in the global technology landscape.

He said Intel has invested more than €30 billion in Ireland since establishing operations in 1989, and the Leixlip campus is one of the company’s most advanced manufacturing facilities. 

The site currently employs 4,900 people.

Taosieach Micheál Martin said the investment is a “powerful vote of confidence” in the skills of Irish workers.

“At a time of rapid technological change and global competition, this expansion strengthens Ireland’s role in securing resilient semiconductor supply chains and reinforces our ambition to remain a global leader in innovation, productivity and sustainable economic growth,” he said.

In June of last year, Intel announced that it would cut up to 195 jobs at the Leixlip plant.

It was reported the previous April that the company was planning to cut over 20% of its global workforce, which numbered approximately 109,000 employees at the end of last year.