Waterford has received an employment boost today with the announcement that 250 new jobs are to be created by local firm Eishtec as part of a major expansion of its facility in Cleaboy Business Park.

The decision to expand came after Eishtec secured a contract to provide customer service sales support for customers of UK mobile company Orange.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton made the announcement when he visited the Cleaboy facility this morning.

News of the new employment will be welcomed across the southeast, which has suffered serious job blows in recent years, most notably the closure of Talk Talk’s call centre in Waterford’s IDA industrial estate with the loss of 575 jobs last October.

"In the context of the recent job losses at Talk Talk, today's announcement that 250 contact centre jobs are to be created by an Irish company in Waterford with State support is a major boost for the city and shows what is possible with the right government priority and determination," Mr Bruton said.

Eishtec provides outsourced solutions from its contact centre in Cleaboy, and currently employs 30 people.

It was founded in early 2011 by former Talk Talk directors Heather Reynolds, Brian Barry and Colm Tracey.

Fine Gael’s Paudie Coffey said the positions being created at the Eishtec call-centre were much needed in the city. “These jobs come at a time of an unemployment crisis in Waterford where we suffered numerous job losses late last year,” he said. “This is an extremely positive announcement and it is down to the hard work, effort and ambition of the management and staff since the company’s establishment last year."