Aldi has announced plans to recruit an extra 500 staff in Ireland this year.

Most of them will be new roles as shop assistants and managers, with some roles already available across their stores nationwide.

The supermarket is planning to open seven new stores across the country throughout the year.

The firm is also increasing its minimum rate of pay to €11.90 an hour from next month, in order to match current living wage recommendations.

Giles Hurley, CEO Aldi UK and Ireland, said: "We recognise the immense contribution that our thousands of store colleagues make each day.

"We have always provided our employees with market-leading pay rates and will continue to do so. We are committed to offering the best pay and benefits in the industry."

The announcements come in the wake of of what the supermarket describes as its "busiest Christmas week ever" last month, with sales value up over 10% on 2017.

Aldi competitor Lidl has previously announced that it will introduce the €11.90 'living wage' as its minimum hourly rate from March.