Widen talent pool for skilled job, urges Paypal chief

The talent pool for skilled jobs should be widened if Ireland is to sustain its economic growth, a leading IT firm has warned.

Problems with transport, education, amenities and housing for workers also need to be resolved, PayPal boss Louise Phelan (pictured) said.

She is the US company's vice president of operations in Europe and a former president of the American Chamber of Commerce.

The online payments business has centres in Dundalk and Dublin, employs around 2,400 and is growing rapidly. Taoiseach Enda Kenny visited its Dundalk office on Tuesday to outline his promises on eradicating unemployment if re-elected.

Ms Phelan said: "It is simple economics, supply and demand. Our talent pool is too small to cater for the growth of the economy - what a great place to be in. So what we want now to do is to make sure that we are widening the talent pool."

Posters on the walls at PayPal reinforced the message, urging emigrants to return to work in Ireland.

They said: "Coming home to work?" with a graphic of an aircraft heading to an Ireland with a heart in the middle.

Ms Phelan said it was not a problem the firm had five years ago but warned that attracting the Irish diaspora home as well as other nationalities was crucial for further growth.

"We need to make sure Ireland keeps its attractiveness as the location for inward investment.

"The best way to do this is to make sure that our finances stack up. That is central to providing certainty to our investors and our future.

"That is why the stability of our tax regime is important. We have gone from a situation where every job advertised resulted in a flood of applications to a scenario where we are all vying for the same talent."

PayPal is one of the Louth area's biggest employers and hires regularly from the Live Register.

It established its hulking building at a technology park on the edge of town in 2012 and has prospered in tandem with the recovery of the border area.

Ebay is next door, with data processing and document technology firm Xerox around the corner.

Other major investors in the area include Horseware, an equine clothing company selling a new horse blanket known for its durability.

Michael Gaynor, a former civil servant promoting enterprise who is now president of Dundalk Chamber of Commerce, said the area is recovering from a struggle during the recession.

He claimed Dundalk is uniquely placed to capitalise on IT-led growth, with its increasingly popular technology school, associated training programmes and rise in the number of apprenticeships.

The Live Register has fallen in recent years in the area, and shop and business owners saw increased footfall before Christmas.

Mr Gaynor said: "People are out there and there is a lot more confidence locally, people are not as afraid to spend and we can see that in our shopping centres."

Two years ago only half of shopping centre spaces were occupied, but now they are full. The number of new car registrations in Co Louth has also increased significantly.

Mr Gaynor said: "We can see strong roots of recovery."