Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ireland has created more than 560 new jobs over the year to date, a report has claimed.

According to IDA Ireland, it is on track to meet its goals for 2011, having seen 75 new overseas investments won for the country during the first six months of 2011.

This marks a 19 per cent increase on the total for the same period of 2010 and includes a €50 million investment by Analog Devices, in addition to further spending in Ireland by Analog Devices, Quest Software, Gilt Groupe and Allianz.

Barry O'Leary, chief executive of IDA Ireland, stated: "We expect the strong flow of foreign direct investment to continue through 2011."

This year has witnessed a 40 per cent jump in the number of investors coming to the nation for the first time, despite the overall FDI market declining 23 per cent year-on-year.

Ireland's Central Statistics Office recently announced the unemployment rate rose slightly by 0.1 points to 14.2 per cent between May and June 2011.

Posted by Alex Donnell