The south-east received a significant employment stimulus yesterday with the announcement that 255 jobs would be created in Waterford and Kilkenny.
Most jobs will be at the Canadian-owned Sun Life Information Services, which will add a business support unit to its operation at Waterford, where it already has an information technology services centre.
Announcing the 200-job development, the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, said it was "excellent news for Waterford" and would offer people the opportunity to move to the city.
The firm, which provides financial services to businesses and individuals, says the centre will be a key element in supporting its growing US business. It will sit alongside its existing plant in the IDA Ireland business park on the Cork road, which was established over two years ago and employs 85 people.
It will continue to recruit people for this centre with a view to meeting its original target of 205 jobs. The jobs at the new business centre will come on stream over the next four years.
In the second of three projects announced by Ms Harney, 30 jobs will be created for highly skilled graphic design and computer staff at a centre being opened by German company Adam. The first employees are being recruited by Waterford Institute of Technology.
FileFlow, a Norwegian developer and marketer of electronic media asset management systems, also announced 25 jobs in software, project management and marketing with the establishment of a product customisation centre in Kilkenny.
Taking into account the recent announcement that PFPC International will create more than 200 financial services job in Wexford, the Tanaiste said 450 new jobs would come on stream in the south-east over the next few years, providing a "significant boost" to the area.
Describing yesterday's news as a "welcome boost", the Mayor of Waterford, Mr Davy Daniels, said he hoped it would prove to be a forerunner of similar announcements. He would write to Ms Harney on behalf of Waterford City Council asking her to set up a jobs task force for the city.
