The unemployment rate is now less than 4%, according to the latest figures.
Quarterly figures for the three months at the end of the year show that 63,000 more people were in work than at the start of 2000.
53,500 are in full-time work while 9,400 hold part-time positions.
The results mean that 1.7m people are now employed in the Irish state.
The industries that have seen an increase in employment are construction, education, health, wholesale and retail.
The number of women in work has also increased slightly.
Today's figures show that Dublin has the lowest unemployment at 2.9%, while the border areas have the highest with 5.4%.
The rise does not match the record increase of 100,000 in 1999.