IRISH E-LEARNING company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) will invest €350 million over the next five years developing a research and development (R&D) hub in Dublin that will create 450 jobs.
This will make it the biggest R&D investment in the State's history and the project is being supported by more than €30 million in grant aid from Enterprise Ireland. HMH, which is led by Corkman Barry O'Callaghan, said it chose Dublin ahead of three other cities around the world.
HMH said a "robust talent acquisition" programme was already under way and 200 staff will be in place by mid-2010. These will be based at its existing city centre base at Ashford House on Tara Street. It is understood that average salaries will be about €70-80,000.
An additional 250 workers will be hired by 2013. These could be based in Meath, according to Mick Killian, a Fianna Fáil councillor in the county. "A planning application is currently going through for a development on lands at Moygaddy on the Meath/Kildare border," Mr Killian said.
HMH said no decision on the location of the second phase of jobs had been made and that they would be located in the "greater Dublin metropolitan area".
The jobs announcement provides a welcome fillip for the Government, which has seen unemployment rise sharply in recent months, while the exchequer finances have deteriorated.
The investment announcement was attended yesterday by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan, who welcomed HMH's decision to locate its R&D centre here. "This investment represents a further justification of the Government's decision to invest in the development of a knowledge economy, from the funding of basic research through to the practical supports for innovative companies like Houghton Mifflin," Ms Coughlan said.
Enterprise Ireland chief executive Frank Ryan said the investment package took nine months to negotiate. "It's welcome news and illustrates that Ireland remains a competitive place for companies worldwide to invest," he said.
Mr Ryan said there were already 13 companies active in e-learning in Ireland, exporting about €250 million annually between them.
HMH is one of the biggest e-learning groups in the world, employing 6,000 staff. The company's products are aimed at children aged four to 18. Its products focus on reading, mathematics and science and are mostly web-based. The company has a 50 per cent share of its target market in the US, which is by far the biggest adopter of e-learning tools in the world.
Fiona O'Carroll, HMH's senior vice-president of digital products R&D, said the decision to locate in Dublin was down to the quality of the workforce and Government support for research projects. "At the end of the day, this was a commercial decision," she said. "Ireland won it on its merits. This will play a key role in the growth of e-learning in Ireland."
Ms O'Carroll said HMH's activities had been largely unaffected by the credit crunch. "Education is a reasonably stable market in comparison with other sectors," she said.
She said the main focus of workers in Dublin would be on the design and development of interactive products for schoolchildren. "These will be delivered over the internet into classes and into homes," she added.
Ms O'Carroll said that while the US remains the biggest market by far for these products, the company has also started to invest in China, India and the Middle East.
