Pfizer's announcement is the latest in a string of recent high-profile successes for IDA Ireland. The State agency has secured both major greenfield investments and significant expansions of existing projects as investment picked up this year following a sluggish period during the international slowdown.

Over the summer, the IDA has announced nine projects, most recently a €21.4 million investment by Hewlett-Packard in a new research centre specialising in inkjet technology for printers at its technology campus in Leixlip.

The Kildare town received an even more substantial boost in May with the decision by computer chip giant Intel to invest €1.6 billion in a new chip plant at its Irish operation.

The State also secured a landmark investment in one of its key target areas - biotechnology - with the €540 million project from Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Centocor in Cork.

The Tánaiste, Ms Harney described the company's decision to site a 330-job unit in Ringaskiddy as "a hugely significant development for Ireland's economic strategy".

The Centocor announcement was the largest in the Cork area for a number of years and marked another stage in the development of the pharmaceutical cluster that has built up around the city.

Medical devices, another target sector for the IDA, was in the news in June when Guidant unveiled plans to create 1,000 in its Clonmel facility. Elan also announced plans for a €35 million biopharmaceutical investment at its base in Athlone, creating up to 120 jobs.

Research operations have also been lined up by the IDA, including a €43 million investment by Lucent's Bell Labs at its Blanchardstown plant in Dublin and €26 million in a Centre for Telecom Value Chain Driven Research at Trinity College.

These followed a €22 million investment by computer giant IBM in a research and development centre for intuitive software in Dublin.

The technology, pharmaceutical and biotech sectors have dominated the headlines.