Staff at Hewlett-Packard face meetings with management today amid concerns over the future of hundreds of jobs at the Leixlip plant.

HP Inc employs around 500 people at the plant - which manufactures inkjet cartridges, and carries out research and development for the giant multi-national.

Senior management are reportedly due to address staff later about the company's plans and it is reported that they will deliver an update on the plant’s future.

Local Fianna Fáil TD Frank O'Rourke has said the news will come as a surprise to many staff:

“They are a very big employer in the area and actually a number of people locally and from within the constituency and even outside the constituency are employed at this plant,” he said. “The news that is breaking comes as a surprise to everybody and most people would not have been expecting this.”

HP Inc was formed 2015 when Hewlett Packard split into two different companies.

HP Inc has concentrated on the traditional printer and PC business while Hewlett-Packard Enterprise has focused on industrial servers, software and services.

The printing and PC side of the business has faced difficulties since the split - facing a continued fall in PC sales and a general move away from printing documents.

The company announced in October last year that it would cut 3,000 to 4,000 jobs globally over the next three years.