A total of 87 highly-skilled jobs are to be created at a new energy research centre in Cork, it was announced today.
The positions will be developed over the next four years at the International Energy Research Centre.
The Government is to invest €20 million in the facility, which they said would create 50 research jobs, and American multi-national United Technologies Corporation (UTC) is to invest a further €15 million in the centre, generating 37 jobs.
The company, which provides products and services to the building and aerospace industries, is setting up the centre as its European research hub for energy and security systems.
UTC, which is the 17th largest manufacturer in the US, employs 200,000 people in more than 70 countries and has corporate research centres in the US and China.
About 74 per cent of its technical staff hold PhDs or advanced degrees - a profile expected to be replicated in the IDA-supported Cork base.
Minister for Enterprise Batt O’Keeffe said the base at the Tyndall National Institute in University College Cork (UCC) is an endorsement of the country’s talented workforce.
“UTC is among the world’s most respected technologically driven corporations and it is a global leader in its field across a range of business sectors,” he said.
The firm will also become the founding member of the International Energy Research Centre (IERC), a new initiative jointly funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
The IERC will work with leading Irish firms and international researchers of sustainable energy systems.
Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan said the project is ground-breaking. “This critical piece of research infrastructure for Ireland’s smart economy has the potential to drive sustainability initiatives and lead to substantial future investments in Ireland,” he added.