Many will rightly argue that 2025 was one of the most challenging years in recent decades for foreign direct investment in Ireland.
Undeterred, IDA Ireland reported a record level of investments here, up 38% on 2024. These 323 investments are expected to create over 15,300 new jobs, also an increase on 2024.
78 of the investments last year were new companies to Ireland, highlighting the continued attraction of Ireland for companies wishing to expand globally.
However, the report also highlights the repeat investments being made by companies which already have a presence here. Despite the global uncertainty caused by Tariffs and a clear wish from the US President Donald Trump for more manufacturing and investments to be re-shored to the US, firms in Ireland continued to expand their presence here. Even multinationals which announced significant investments in the US, often made similar announcements for Ireland.
Some of the significant announcements that were made last year by US companies included:
The US healthcare firm GE turned the sod on a €132m investment at its plant in Carrigtwohill, Cork, in January. The investment will expand its contrast media fill and finish manufacturing site and will enable 25 million more patient doses per year of contrast media by the end of 2027.
AI specialists Crusoe opened their European headquarters in Dublin in February. The San Francisco and Denver firm expects to grow its workforce in Ireland to approximately 100 people over the next three years and is hiring for multiple roles in Dublin across its networking, site reliability engineering, customer success and support departments.
New York-headquartered web design firm Squarespace plans to create more than 120 new jobs in Ireland over the next two years, bringing its total workforce in Dublin to over 400 employees. The company first came to Ireland in 2013.
Tech firm announced the opening of its new office in Dublin in February with plans to add more than 100 jobs to meet the growing demand for its solutions across the EMEA region. Located in DSublin, it marks the company’s third international location, in addition to London and Sydney.
Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, health data platform Datavant has opened its global R&D hub in Galway. The company plans to initially hire up to 125 people by the end of 2027. Recruitment is already underway with a range of diverse engineering roles.
Headquartered in Dallas, Tricentis is a global leader in testing and quality engineering. It began operations in Cork in 2022, which is one of 26 global offices. Its Cork operation has focused on consolidating international finance and building various functions such as payroll, accounts payable, projects, revenue, legal and data analytics. It announced plans for further investment in Ireland, aiming to grow its headcount here, adding 50 new jobs along with plans to move into a new office space to accommodate the expanding team.
A digital asset management software firm, Canto is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with offices in Berlin, Cork and Sydney. The company announced in April it was expanding its innovation centre in Cork, with plans to grow the office as part of the company’s global product development strategy. The expansion is set to add 50 new jobs to the company’s presence here in Ireland. Cork will serve as a strategic European hub for several core initiatives, including advanced AI research, cloud infrastructure optimisation, frontend modernisation, and the continued development of Canto’s unified DAM and product information management (PIM) platform.
Chicago insurance and settlement services firm Fidelity National Information Services announced plans to hire 100 technology professionals over the next two years in Dublin. FIS intends to build a team that will develop and manage selected new products and platforms. Roles to be hired are expected to include data scientists, product analysts, portfolio managers and software engineers, in addition to a number of management support roles.
The StepStone Group, a global private markets solutions provider, opened a new Ireland office in Dublin, having already operated in the capital since 2005 through a predecessor firm. Since 2021, the number of people working in StepStone’s Dublin office has doubled and now numbers 110 employees, approximately 10% of the firm’s global workforce. The new 12,000 square foot office allows the firm to continue to invest.
Digital payments giant PayPal will create 100 new data science roles at its Dublin office as it invests in advanced data science and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and marks a new chapter in the transformation of its Irish operations. The new AI team in Dublin will serve as a key spoke in PayPal’s global network, working in coordination with PayPal’s other innovation hubs.
Tech giant IBM has long had a presence in Ireland, operating here since the 1950s. It has a strong presence in Dublin with offices in Cork, Galway and Waterford. In June, IBM announced plans to hire 75 software engineers over the next three years dedicated to research and development (R&D), based in Waterford. The roles will focus on cutting-edge innovation for IBM Z, the infrastructure powering 70% of global transactions. The Waterford software engineers will design processors, firmware, carry out software development and advance the Linux operating system. In 2024, IBM announced the recruitment of another 800 high-tech jobs in Ireland by 2027, spanning R&D, digital sales and consulting operations spread across Dublin, Cork and Waterford.
New York-headquartered data and AI company EXL, has opened its new headquarters for international business in Dublin’s Docklands underscoring the company’s commitment to Ireland as a strategic hub for its global operations. Since establishing a presence in Dublin in 2023, the company has been working toward its goal of hiring up to 200 technology specialists. The AI Innovation Lab will initially employ 60 highly skilled professionals.
This manufacturing firm announced its expansion into Ireland, opening a new engineering and sales facility in Mullingar. This facility serves as a launch pad for a future production operation that G&F plans to staff with more than 30 high-value roles. The investment supports G&F’s mission to align with local MedTech companies and contributes to Ireland’s thriving MedTech sector.
In September, industrial lighting technology firm Acuity opened a Global Digital Centre of Excellence in Cork. The centre is expected to create over 100 highly skilled jobs in the area over the next three years.
The Atlanta-headquartered firm specialises in technology solutions for lighting and spaces. The centre in Cork will serve as a hub for research and development to build software expertise and innovation. The company said locating in Cork gives them access to software and engineering talent.
Healthcare firm Hollister is a global leader in ostomy, continence, wound care and critical care products. In July, it announced an €80m R&D investment and a digital transformation project that will create approximately 50 new jobs in Ballina, Co Mayo. The multimillion-euro investment aims to elevate Ballina into a global epicentre of expertise through novel device design and extensive site-wide training, setting a benchmark for digital transformation within Hollister’s global network.
Californian company Workday, an AI platform for managing people, money, and agents announced a three year, €175m investment and 200 specialised roles to establish its AI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Dublin. It expands the role of Workday’s EMEA headquarters in the company’s product research and development globally.
Boston firm HarbourVest Partners, a global private markets asset manager with over $147bn in assets under management reinforced its commitment to Ireland with the opening of its new office in Dublin. It has operated in Dublin since 2019, initially with a team of six. Today, the firm’s Irish presence has grown to more than 40 employees.
Medical technologies and instrumentaton giant Stryker plans to roll out its Training Centre of Excellence model to sites nationwide, beginning with its Limerick facility. The three-year training initiative is designed to equip Stryker’s employees with skills necessary for the rapidly evolving work environment characterised by digital innovation, advanced automation and sustainability.
Medical technology firm J&J announced the expansion of its Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) activities in Galway. The Galway site is a hub for the company’s NTI efforts to understand the unmet needs in neurovascular disease and driving innovation in stroke treatment.
Financial services software compant SS&C Technologies announced a significant expansion of its European wealth management business with the establishment of SS&C Wealth Services Europe Ltd allowing the Connecticut-headquartered firm to deliver its full suite of wealth management solutions directly from Ireland. SS&C employs more than 550 professionals in Ireland, servicing over €95bn in assets
Cybersecurity and compliance company Proofpoint announced in November that it was expanding its international hub in Cork, aiming to bring new specialist roles to the city centre, including data scientists and artificial intelligence (AI) and large language model (LLMs) specialists, as the company launches its AI Innovation Centre. The Californian company is bringing 45 new specialist roles to Cork, with a continued growth trajectory of up to 100 additional roles over the coming years. Proofpoint will also bring a security operations team to Cork, and increase roles in other functions such as its data security team and is increasing its office space in Cork to accommodate the expansion.
Remi Thomas, Chief Financial Officer at Proofpoint said they wanted to tap into Cork’s technical talent base to strengthen their industry-leading solutions to detect and prevent emerging threats, while keeping data secure.”
Virginia-founded Fixify provides IT support automation through the use of AI. It is currently in the process of creating 50 skilled jobs in Ireland over the next 18 months. It has chosen Cork as a regional base for the company’s development and support its worldwide operations. Their CEO Matt Peters said they chose Cork as it is a city which brings together deep technical expertise, quality of life and community spirit.
Cloud-based restaurant technology platform Toast announced plans in December to create 120 new roles in Dublin in a multi-year R&D investment project. It will allow the company to advance its work in AI innovation to embed agents across the platform, enhance productivity and unlock global scalability.
Data management, cybersecurity, and platform modernisation frimn Quest announced the opening of its new Centre for Advanced AI Architecture in Cork. The centre will serve as a hub for applied research and development. Teams in Cork will work across AI engineering, data science, cybersecurity, and software development to advance these priorities and strengthen Quest’s market-leading products in these areas.
