400 new jobs are coming on-stream at a Dublin car rental partnerships agency.

CarTrawler has announced the new positions will be created over the next three years at its Dundrum headquarters.

The first phase of hiring 200 people has already begun across a range of functions - including senior roles in business development, customer operations, data science, finance and engineering.

The firm will also be opening a new international customer care centre in Dundrum.

The announcement was made this afternoon by the Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Jobs Minister Richard Bruton.

Mike McGearty, CEO of CarTrawler said, "We have firmly established our position as one of the travel-tech industry's top employers. We continue to invest in our technology and our team to ensure that we remain the driving force behind car rental worldwide."

"We are very pleased to be able to create these new roles in our country of origin which will help to showcase our home grown Irish business on the international stage," he added.

Welcoming the announcement, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said "CarTrawler is a great example of an indigenous Irish company competing and succeeding in a global market. The announcement today of an additional 400 jobs for Ireland is hugely encouraging and very welcome."

While the CEO of Enterprise Ireland, Julie Sinnamon, added "CarTrawler is a role model for ambitious, highly innovative Irish companies to follow. They are a great example of how it is possible for an Irish company to develop into an international company of scale, with positions in global markets."

CarTrawler is hosting an open day on Saturday October 18th.

The firm provides aviation, travel, hospitality, leisure and consumer brands with direct connections to more than 1,200 car rental agents in over 30,000 locations across 174 countries.

It has staff in Dublin, London and Boston and also owns the online car rental brands 'Holiday Autos' and 'Argus Car Hire'.