Online marketplace eBay has confirmed plans to shutter its Dundalk operation, with the loss of 150 jobs. The winding down is due to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2017 and was attributed to PayPal’s ongoing expansion plans leaving it without a suitable site to operate from. A further 150 jobs in Blanchardstown are unaffected.
“We can confirm that PayPal has served us notice as tenants of its Dundalk facility. We will begin a formal consultation process with our colleagues in Dundalk and will share any further information with them as a matter of priority,” said a statement issued by the company to staff.
The response from public representative has been muted. Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor was reduced to saying she hoped the employees would find alternative work soon, while Fianna Fail TD Declan Breathnach conceded that the only way to save the jobs was if the will existed to do so.
Initially that damage was considered a matter not of saving jobs but keeping them in Dundalk.
The Irish Independent reported back in July that eBay was looking for new premises in Dundalk as PayPal pressed away with its expansion plans. Local representatives and the IDA said they were working with the multinational to find an appropriate site. Fine Gael TD Peter Fitzpatrick issued a statement saying: “Since early this year it has been common knowledge that eBay required an alternative location for their operations”.
While eBay did not specify the number of jobs to be lost in its statement, it did say it would be looking to expand its existing “operating locations”. This would imply the search for new premises in Ireland had been unsuccessful.
PayPal employs 2,600 in Blanchardstown and Dundalk and has plans to increase this to 3,000 by 2018.
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