TESCO IRELAND will open seven new stores as part of a €113 million investment in the Republic which will create 748 jobs.

The grocery retailer, which already employs 13,400 staff across 120 outlets in the Republic, said the new stores would come on stream over the next 12 months.

The biggest of the new outlets is to be opened in Naas, Co Kildare and will employ 266 staff.

The rest of the jobs will come from new stores in Kinnegad, Westmeath (80 jobs), Oranmore, Galway (110), Swinford, Mayo (90), Ballybeg, Waterford (110), Thomas Street, Dublin (16) and Kimmage, Dublin (16).

The investment plan also includes a replacement store in Roscrea, Co Tipperary that will result in 60 additional jobs.

Minister for Enterprise Batt O’Keeffe said the investment underpinned the company’s commitment to Ireland and added momentum to the Government’s economic recovery plan.

“The investment shows that this is not a jobless recovery. Our recovery is built on prudent Government fiscal and economic policies, indigenous entrepreneurship and continued investments from the multinational sector,” Mr O’Keeffe said.

The new jobs will generate local economic activity across the regions, as well as driving competition in the retail sector and offering convenience and choice to consumers, he added.

Tesco’s chief executive Tony Keohane said the investment would benefit consumers and create jobs at a difficult time for the Irish economy. “There will be a significant boost in local employment in terms of 748 new jobs at a time when Ireland needs to get people into work,” he added.

Earlier this year, Tesco Ireland said sales fell 7.5 per cent to €2.9 billion in the year to the end of February. However, price cuts introduced in May were responsible for a 10 per cent growth in the number of transactions, the company claimed, with customers responding to its campaign by visiting Tesco in higher numbers.

Trading at 11 stores just south of the Border rose by an average of 33 per cent year-on-year, as cross-Border shopping appeal waned.