Joan Burton TD, Minister for Social Protection, today (21 February) welcomed the announcement byPayPal, the leading global online payments company that it was creating 1,000 jobs over the next four years at PayPal’s new European Operations Centre in Dundalk, Co Louth.  The jobs are supported by Government through IDA Ireland.

The new Dundalk Operations Centre will open in July 2012. It will be eBay Inc.’s third site in Ireland, complementing PayPal and eBay locations in Dublin.

In 2009, PayPal invested €15 million in the establishment of a European Centre of Excellence in Blanchardstown, with the support of IDA Ireland. The Dublin centre manages all direct customer contact for PayPal’s businesses across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and its nearly 42 million active accounts in these regions.

Minister Burton said: “This announcement reflects extremely well on the calibre of the Irish workforce in Blanchardstown and elsewhere in Ireland.  It is a clear recognition of the opportunities that Ireland offers global  leaders like PayPal.  Our Action Plan on Jobs published last week will help to ensure that this is just the first of many similar announcements over the coming year.”

PayPal’s European operation centre opened in Dublin in 2003. Since then the number of staff has increased from just 25 to more than 1,400 today.

The PayPal centres in Dublin and Dundalk will be responsible for customer service, risk prevention, financial operations, merchant services and sales across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).   PayPal is seeking to fill roles across a range of activities including customer support, operations, finance, sales and compliance.  More information about these employment opportunities can be found at http://www.paypal.com/ie/jobsinireland or  http://jobs.ebaycareers.com/

Louise Phelan, vice president of global operations for PayPal in EMEA, said “This is a great day for PayPal Ireland and is truly a testament to the proven track record of our existing operation in Ireland. I am very proud to support Irish job creation and look forward to working with our new teammates in Dundalk.  IDA Ireland has been a close partner of PayPal’s since we established our first location in 2003, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with IDA  in the coming years.