PayPal recruits overseas as language skills hamper Irish candidates

PayPal has been forced to recruit overseas staff to fill positions in Ireland, because workers here are lacking language skills.

The online company announced the creation of 1,000 new jobs in February. Around half of these have been filled by people brought in from other countries.

Chief executive of the American Chamber of Commerce Joanne Richardson said Ireland needed to focus on language skills to protect the country's status as a gateway to Europe, but she also praised the level of talent available here.

"Look at the investment that's coming into the country," she said. "There's the PayPal's investment and continued investment in recruitment by companies such as Google and Facebook, Linked In and Twitter.

"We wouldn’t be winning those investments if there wasn't a level of confidence that Ireland could support the talent requirements."