* Ireland adds 10,400 jobs in H1, up from 10,000 year ago

* Share of investments from North America steady at 60%-65%

(Adds details)

By Padraic Halpin

DUBLIN, July 1 (Reuters) - Ireland said on Wednesday it

secured commitments from foreign multinationals in the first

half of 2026 to create 10,400 jobs, up slightly year-on-year,

with North American companies still accounting for a large share

despite U.S. trade protectionism.

Ireland is hugely reliant on the taxes and jobs of foreign

multinationals such as Apple ( AAPL ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ).

Foreign-owned firms have almost doubled their Irish workforce in

the last decade to make up 11% of the entire labour market.

The decades-old model of attracting jobs from mainly U.S.

firms in sectors such as technology and pharmaceuticals has had

to weather President Donald Trump's fluctuating tariff policies

and pledge to bring more production back to the U.S.

The country's inward investment agency, IDA Ireland, said

North American companies' share of the 190 new investments

announced in the first half of the year was in line with

historical trends at 60% to 65%. This was driven by the high

number of U.S. firms already in Ireland and the scale of

innovation happening in North America, he said.

The IDA said a strong concentration of investment activity

was in next-generation technology projects such as AI.

The agency's CEO Michael Lohan said research and development

spending in the sector totalled €1.5 billion in the first half

of the year compared to €2.5 billion for the whole of 2025

following improved tax incentives introduced by the government

last October.

The agency's figures count new jobs only and exclude

layoffs, which largely offset hiring in 2023 and 2024 when the

sector slowed. Net employment growth resumed last year, rising

1.5% year-on-year.

While some large technology companies such as Meta

have announced job cuts in their Irish operations this year,

Lohan said he did not see anything "outside of the norm" in

terms of how many net jobs may be added in the sector this year.