Reports over the weekend suggest that Apple is close to securing a new landbank from Cork County Council, close to its existing Hollyhill Headquarters plant on the edge of Cork city, that would allow it to double the size of its existing plant there.

Apple employs more than 4,000 people in Ireland, the vast majority of them in Hollyhill - where it recently invested up to €300m in new facilities - and in leased office block space in the city centre.

The company's operations in Cork specialise in manufacturing, and also house Apple's largest sales and services support network outside of the US.

It’s not clear yet whether any expansion at Hollyhill would involve an immediate increase in numbers employed the company - or if it will allow the company to bring all employees in the city back to one campus. At least two hundred construction jobs expected to be created in any expansion project

Apple recently announced an €850m project to build a giant data centre in Athenry in Galway, which will ultimately create 100 new jobs.

The Californian company's tax payments in Ireland are currently being investigated by the European Commission - it has learned last week that a ruling for the case has been delayed, and will not be announced during the current quarter.