A parcel delivery service is create 150 jobs over the next year.
DPD Ireland is set to invest €3.2 million electrifying its Irish fleet over the next 12 months.
The firm is predicting annual growth of 20% in 2019 and the new roles will bring total employment within the company to 1,300.
30 of the new positions will be part of the electricity rollout and 120 as part of countrywide services to help with growth.
The ElectriCity rollout was launched in Dublin yesterday and will roll out to other urban locations throughout the country over the next three years.
Environment Minister Richard Bruton said at the launch: “Transitioning to a low carbon economy will require more sustainable choices and leadership from industry.
“By investing in electrifying their fleet, DPD are putting sustainability at the heart of their business and leading the way.
“Today’s announcement will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality, but also puts DPD’s business on a more sustainable footing.”
DPD Ireland chief executive Des Travers said DPD will be the first parcel delivery company to have an electric depot.
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He added: “Through Electricity, 15 parcel delivery routes in Dublin will become all-electric routes.
“By the end of this year, as part of our bid to reduce our carbon output, DPD will have saved more than 20 tonnes of CO2 being emitted as a result of moving to an electric fleet.”
He said DPD is committed to making every parcel delivered carbon neutral, and is doing so by measuring CO2 emissions, striving to reduce them, and by offsetting the remaining ones.
The first 10 vehicles of the new electric fleet have arrived and are on the road from today.
“Another 15 have been ordered but the problem is supply and getting them into the country,” Mr Travers said.
“While there is an urgent push to move to electric, from a commercial perspective, it is still difficult to procure appropriate vehicles. It is our intention to have electric vehicles stationed in all of our depots in three years.”
The €3.2 million investment will include purchasing the electric vehicles, hiring personnel, employee training, acquiring the depots, and their refurbishment.
DPD operates 34 depots throughout Ireland with its central sortation hub in Athlone.
The company, which recorded a turnover of €91.5 million last year expect to deliver 24 million parcels to their customers in 2019.
Mr Travers cited “new business and also growth within their existing customer base” as the reason for the increase in deliveries this year.
The company currently employs 1150 people and routed more than 20 million parcels to their delivery destinations last year.
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