The number of people employed in companies supported by IDA Ireland dropped by just over 1,200 last year, according to the State agency's end-of-year statement.
The IDA said that while 10,000 jobs were lost - out of a total of around 136,000 - 8,837 new jobs were created.
Chief executive Barry O'Leary said that, despite the world economic crisis, the IDA remained 'guardedly optimistic' about Ireland's ability to continue attracting a high level of investment from foreign companies.
But he warned that global economic turmoil made the outcome for 2009 difficult to predict, and that levels of investment made by companies across the world would decline. Mr O'Leary said there had been a 14% increase in the number of investments from companies last year.
Asked on RTE radio about the possibility of job losses at Dell's facilities in Ireland, Mr O'Leary said he understood Dell would soon be making a decision on its global review of manufacturing costs.
Industry sources expect that Dell will reduce its workforce in Limerick from about 3,000 to between 750 to 1,200.
The agency says IDA-backed firms in Ireland constantly need to transform their Irish operations into 'higher value' activities, and increase their importance within their parent companies. But it said the pace of change needed to intensify, even if this involved some job losses within individual companies.
35% of IDA-backed investments last year were from non-US companies, while 60% were located outside Dublin.
