Microsoft have announced plans to hire 600 people at its Irish operations.

Microsoft is to splash the cash on a multimillion-euro base in south Dublin for its 1,200 employees here.

There are already 22,000 people employed across Dublin’s Sandyford Business District — where a collection of four existing business parks has scope for 17,500 more employees, as well as further commercial and residential development.

Microsoft has been granted permission to build a headquarters in Leopardstown in Dublin to accommodate up to 2,000 staff.

Gardaí are investigating an alleged abduction of a 20-year-old woman in Dublin.