By Business & Finance 
Pictured at the PayPal jobs announcement this morning are: Brendan Howlin TD, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform; An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD, Louise Phelan, vice president of Global Operations for Europe, Middle East and Africa, PayPal; Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs , Enterprise & Innovation; and Barry O Leary, IDA Ireland.
PayPal and An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD, today announced the creation of another 400 jobs. These jobs will be based at the eBay Inc. European Operations Centre in Dundalk and are in addition to the 1,000 PayPal positions announced in 2012.
This will bring the combined PayPal and eBay employee numbers in Dundalk to 1,850 by 2018.
PayPal is a world leader in online and mobile payments, making it easier, more secure and more intuitive for people to pay – wherever and whenever they want. Its centres in Dublin and Dundalk manage 60 million active accounts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
PayPal is seeking to fill roles in the areas of customer solutions, risk operations, merchant services, telesales and operational excellence. These roles are primarily English speaking and PayPal also has a number of other language opportunities. The 400 jobs announced today will be filled by 2018, bringing PayPal’s total Irish workforce to 2,900.
PayPal’s growth in Ireland is being fuelled by the increasing number of businesses and consumers who choose PayPal to trade and shop online. Six million of its 148 million active accounts globally were added in the first three months of 2014 alone.
Louise Phelan, vice president of Global Operations for Europe, Middle East and Africa for PayPal said: “This is great news for Dundalk and the North East region. Dundalk is a very important site in our global operations for supporting our customers. We are already ahead of schedule in recruiting our first 1,000 teammates, thanks to our continued expansion, together with the high-calibre people we have already employed.
“PayPal is an exciting and dynamic place to work, where talented people can build lasting careers. We are transforming the payments world by creating new, faster and more secure ways for people and businesses to pay and get paid online, on mobile and increasingly in-store. Our new teammates will be shaping the future of commerce.
“We have been delighted to be able to make a very positive impact on the lives of so many people in the area, both through our community activities and by virtue of the jobs we create, which have taken so many unemployed people off the local live register. In addition, we know that almost 1,000 indirect ‘spin-off’ jobs in other local businesses will be created as a result of PayPal’s investment in Dundalk.”
An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD said: “I am delighted to welcome 400 new jobs at PayPal in Dundalk. During my recent visit to Silicon Valley, I had the opportunity to meet with the CEO of eBay Inc to discuss their ongoing investments and to offer the Government’s support for increased expansion into Ireland. The Government was delighted to support the creation of 400 new jobs in Dundalk which will provide new opportunities for people right across the North East. This PayPal announcement further enhances Ireland’s reputation as a prime location for global businesses and is a tribute to our talented and flexible workforce.”
Barry O’Leary, CEO, IDA Ireland said: “PayPal’s growth in Dublin and Dundalk is one of the largest projects the IDA has ever been involved in bringing to Ireland. PayPal have found an ideal combination of talent, great infrastructure and suitable property in Dundalk. The success of this company is an example that we as IDA executives bring around the world when we pitch for Ireland in boardrooms from Boston to Bombay. Behind all projects of this size, lies a strong leadership team that has bought into the idea of doing business in Ireland – I would like to pay tribute to all those in PayPal, especially Louise Phelan, for her continued ability to pitch Ireland’s strengths wherever she goes.”
