Start-up companies promise 1,500 jobs in three years

The fledgling businesses are all part of Enterprise Ireland's 2014 High Potential Start-Up programme.

Funded by the Department of Jobs, the programme supports new export-oriented companies, based on technological innovation, likely to achieve annual sales of €1m and employ ten within three years.

The companies accepted onto the programme during last year span a range of sectors, from software and services, to engineering and medical devices.

It is possible not all will grow as planned or even survive, but right now the firms are committing to creating 1,500 jobs in the next 36 months.

More than half the companies are based in Dublin, with the remainder across the rest of the country.

2014 also saw Enterprise Ireland inject early stage capital into 81 new early stage businesses under its Competitive Start Fund.

The announcements were welcomed by Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton, who said in a statement that the firms concerned would be key to the Government's plans to create a powerful engine of Irish enterprise to fuel jobs growth across the country.