550 jobs have been announced for Dublin in two separate announcements.

200 positions are being created with the opening of a 'major new site' for design software company, Autodesk.

The company is looking for people in finance, operations, localisation and sales operations by the end of this year.

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys, welcomed the announcement by the US tech company.

She said: "I am delighted that a company of Autodesk’s international stature and expertise has decided to invest in Ireland with a project which will create 200 new jobs."

"We have the IT skills available to enable the company to grow and to embed their operations in Ireland. Their arrival is a great vote of confidence in what we have to offer".

Separately, pharmaceutical company MSD has announced the creation of up to 350 jobs.

The positions will come on stream with construction of a new biotechnology facility in Swords.

It will be located at the site of the company's former facility in the north Dublin town.

In 2013, the company announced it plans to cease operations at that facility, with the loss of 570 jobs. Operations finally wound down last year.

Site works for the new facility will start immediately, and full manufacturing is expected to begin in 2021.

The company said: "The decision to locate this new facility in Ireland [is] testament to the talent of MSD’s Irish employees and the high standard of its existing operations, and [it] reinforces MSD’s commitment to Ireland."

MSD currently employs 1,700 people at sites in Carlow, Cork, Dublin and Tipperary, and last year announced its plans to create 330 new Irish jobs as part of a €280 million investment in Carlow and Cork.