German software giant SAP is to increase its workforce in the Republic by more than 200 over the next three years, The Irish Times has learned.
The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, is expected to make the expansion announcement tomorrow.
SAP, which currently employs more than 100 staff in the Republic and expects to employ 150 here by the end of the year, now plans to bring total employment in Ireland to around 350 by 2003.
As part of its expansion plan, SAP's Irish support and service centre (SSC) is relocating from Eastpoint Business Park to a new facility in Rathcoole's Citywest Business Park.
The move will be supported by IDA Ireland as part of its focus on enhanced services investments by foreign multinationals.
SAP's decision to further increase its Irish operation is understood to have been prompted by its success in the Irish market to date, and its confidence in the continued availability of service and support software specialists trained to graduate level.
The planned development is believed to encompass 75,000 square feet at the Citywest campus, indicating that SAP may plan further similar expansions of the Irish operation in the future.
SAP employs 22,000 people in more than 50 countries, but its Irish Eastpoint Business Park facility marked its first technical services and support centre outside Germany. SAP's expansion in the Republic is understood to be typical of the type of investment the IDA is targeting.
The company is the third-largest independent software supply house in the world, with more than 22,000 business installations. The company says its software is currently used by more than half of the world's top 500 companies.
SAP's customer base in the Republic includes Eircom, FAS, ESB, CIE, AIB, Guinness, Irish Distillers and Waterford Crystal.
Its software products are deployed within organisations across multiple locations. As companies are currently investing substantially in new technology to adapt to the Internet business landscape, SAP has developed an offering called mySAP.com that allows any firm to integrate its processes within and among enterprises and business communities.
Last year, the company's revenue grew 18 per cent to just over £4 billion, with profits before tax of £770 million.
