Two companies have announced plans to create 75 jobs in Cork. In Ballincollig, Co Cork, Irish company Asystec, which also has offices in Limerick, Dublin and Belfast, will open a new office hiring 50 people in a variety of roles in analytics, data centre and IT security and governance.

Founded by Les Byrne and Brendan McPhillips in 2011, Asystec provides data management services to clients in data protection, security and storage, cloud solutions, infrastructure optimisation and big data analytics.

Opening the office Minister for European Affairs and Data Protection Dara Murphy said Asystec was a "fantastic example of an indigenous Irish company".

Meanwhile, a further 25 jobs are due to be created with the development of a new online jobs site for the Department of Social Protection. BDO Ireland in partnership with tech start-up the Hire Lab, based in Carrigaline, won the €4.5 million contract to operate the website. The Hire Lab will increase its workforce to 50 to run the site.