Ebay to hire another 450 staff in Ireland

DUBLIN Feb 14 (Reuters) - EBay Inc will hire 450 people in Ireland, the company said on Thursday, almost a year after handing the bailed out country its biggest post-crisis job boost by hiring 1,000 new workers at its payment service PayPal.

Although likely to emerge from its 85 billion euro ($114.21 billion) EU/IMF bailout at the end of this year, Ireland still has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe, remaining above 14 percent for almost 2-1/2 years.

Ireland's public sector continues to shrink but it has been able to attract the likes of Google and Facebook to Dublin thanks to its low corporate tax rates.

PayPal, which set up a European base in Ireland a decade ago, will add the jobs to its customer services centre in the north east county of Dundalk.

"This new announcement is exceptional news for Ireland," Prime Minister Enda Kenny said in a statement.

"Last week's agreement on bank debt will lead to further investment as confidence in the Irish economy continues to grow," he added, referring to the deal struck with the European Central Bank to ease the burden on Ireland's state-owned bank debt.