An Bord Pleanála has granted permission for a crucial 40 acre expansion at Intel in Leixlip which could create thousands of jobs.

Kildare County Council approved the 162,000 square metre development last year but it was appealed to the national planning authority.

This latest decision gives Intel Ireland the final piece of the jigsaw in its quest to be selected as one of the 3 locations to build the next generation of chips.

The chips are likely to be manufactured in Arizona and Oregon in the States and Intel in Israel are also pushing to be selected as the 3rd location.

€7.5 billion invested in plant

The new plant would be used to build a new generation of faster and more powerful microchips.

Intel have invested €7.5 billion at its Leixlip plant since they first set up their base there in 1989.

There are over 4,500 people presently working for Intel in Ireland.

Labour Deputy Emmet Stagg has welcomed the decision.

He stated that "thousands of constructions jobs and hundreds of new permanent posts at the high tech campus in Leixlip could now become a reality if Intel Ireland can get the final go ahead from the US to be one of the 3 plants to build the next generation of microchips".