Tesco Ireland is to open seven new stores and generate hundreds of jobs as part of a €113m investment.
Under the retailer's investment plans for the next year, the €113m will be spent redeveloping and opening new stores.
The company will create 748 jobs over the year, the majority of which will be outside Dublin.
It already employs 13,500 people in the Republic.
266 jobs will be created in Naas, 110 each in Galway and Waterford, 90 in Mayo, 80 in Westmeath and 60 in Tipperary.
The other jobs will be created at two locations in Dublin.
Earlier this year, Tesco said its sales fell in the year to the end of February by 7.5% to €2.9bn due to lower prices.
It is the world's third biggest retailer and has 119 Irish stores.
Tesco Ireland Chief Executive Tony Keohane said the investment 'would benefit consumers and create jobs at a difficult time for Ireland's economy.'
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O'Keeffe said the 'investment today underpins the company's commitment to Ireland.'
Expansion questioned
However, the Irish Farmers' Association has questioned Tesco’s expansion plans at, what it calls, a time of overcapacity in the sector.
IFA President John Bryan also queried the correctness of expansion plans by supermarket multiples until the code of practice for the retail sector is in place to ensure fair play for producers.
The IFA President said producers are not getting fair play in the food supply chain and rather than undertaking unnecessary capital investment, the multiples would be better off fixing this fundamental problem.
Mr Bryan said the over capacity of the sector is self-evident and returns to the primary producer are being forced down in order to pay for the excess capacity and capital expenditure by the multiples.
He said many small shops and convenience stores are struggling to compete as the multiples dominate and expand unabated and he questioned how many net jobs would be created from this expansion.
Mr Bryan said the Government and the EU Commission must accelerate their plans to regulate the sector as the multiples continue to take more profit out of the food supply chain.
