APPLE HAS ANNOUNCED that it will expand its Cork campus and make room for 1,000 additional employees by 2017.

The US tech giant is set to expand its campus in Hollyhill, Co Cork and add a new building that will provide new office space and room for 1,000 additional employees by mid-2017.

The company’s CEO Tim Cook was in Ireland for the announcement. He is to receive the gold medal of honorary patronage today from Trinity College Dublin’s University Philosophical Society.

Great to chat with Tim Cook on the day apple announce 1000 new jobs in Cork. pic.twitter.com/TIppegDneC — Enda Kenny (@EndaKennyTD) November 11, 2015 Source: Enda Kenny /Twitter

Employment

Apple opened its Cork facility in 1980. It is estimated that Apple supports nearly 18,000 jobs across the country, including over 5,000 direct Apple employees.

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD said of the news:

Apple’s plans for new facilities at their Cork campus that can house a further 1,000 jobs is a very welcome boost of confidence in Cork and the South West region. It is also a welcome sign of broadening regional recovery. These new jobs come on top of 1,000 additional jobs already created at Apple in the past 12 months, which brought the workforce in Ireland to over 5,000 in 2015.

He said the continued expansion by the company “is testament to the quality of the talent pool, the infrastructure and the business environment that this country has to offer and further cements Apple as one of the leading employers in Ireland”.

Tánaiste Joan Burton TD described the news as “a profound statement of confidence in Ireland’s economic recovery, and a profound statement of belief in the talent and creativity of the Irish workforce”.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation Richard Bruton TD described Apple as an iconic global brand.

“Through our Action Plan for Jobs we have been determined to support more employment in companies like Apple, through measures like extra IDA staff in overseas markets and increased numbers of trade missions, and we have seen major employment growth over recent years,” he said.

He described the announcement as “a huge boost for Cork and for all of Ireland”.

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Martin Shanahan, CEO of IDA Ireland said that for any company to be located at the same campus for over 30 years “is a remarkable thing”.

The scale of the operation in Hollyhill is vast, with manufacturing, supply chain, AppleCare and shared services operations taking place within one campus. Today’s news follows an announcement by Apple in February of this year where they revealed plans to put an €850 million data centre in Athenry.

ICT Ireland, the Ibec group that represents the high-tech sector, said the creation of 1,000 new jobs by Apple “highlights Ireland’s continued attractiveness for major investment by tech companies”.

Apple has also announced that it is partnering with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland to support research in offshore energy technology and is establishing a €1M Ocean Energy Industry Fund.

This is to support new ways of capturing wave energy and converting it to renewable electricity. Apple has pledged to power all its facilities with renewable energy.

Minister Alex White welcomed Apple’s support for innovation in ocean energy, saying: