Mastercard has announced it is expanding its presence in Ireland, hiring 175 new employees in Dublin focused on payments.

Roles include software engineers, blockchain specialists, data scientists, project managers, analysts, product designer and cloud infrastructure specialists.

The global payments company said the jobs "represent Mastercard's commitment to driving innovation in payments and beyond, designing ground-breaking security solutions, and striving for a world beyond cash."

Welcoming the announcement, Business Minister Heather Humphreys said: "Mastercard's decision to expand here is an important landmark and I warmly welcome the new jobs that are coming with the announcement.

"The Government has been working hard to ensure that we have the right conditions in place to attract the knowledge-based sectors to Ireland, in particular a skilled workforce that can fill the needs of companies like Mastercard.

"Ireland is now a very attractive location for international FinTech and payment companies from all over the world and announcements like this one today illustrate that our policies are continuing to deliver tangible results."

Mastercard's Leopardstown office currently employs 380 staff.

It is the global headquarters of Mastercard Labs, the firm's research and development arm.

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The office is also the hub of Mastercard's business in Ireland, working with banks and credit card issuers.

Ken Moore, executive vice president and head of Mastercard Labs, added: "Ireland is the heart of our global innovation efforts - throughout Mastercard, Dublin is admired as a key technology hub - we’re looking to replicate the innovation culture we’ve fostered here in our offices around the world.

"The vibrant culture we have here makes it the perfect place to recruit for these highly-skilled roles.

"We need great minds who can look outside of Mastercard's traditional payments expertise and create solutions to benefit our customers around the world, and I’m excited to grow our business here."

The creation of these new jobs follows Mastercard's recent announcement that it would bring its digital and physical payment teams under one organisation.

The newly-formed team will bring core products, digital payments, Mastercard Labs and processing activities together.

Mastercard has taken on more space at its Mountainview headquarters in Leopardstown, and has signed a lease until 2026 to accommodate growing numbers of staff.