Seen and Heard: fund manager Fidelity expands in Dublin

Global fund manager Fidelity International plans to expand its workforce in Dublin to over 600 people as it beefs up its operation here, reports the Sunday Times. Fidelity currently employs 65 people in Dublin and announced last month announced that it would move 100 jobs from London to Dublin.

US insurer MetLife is also understood by the newspaper to be creating 300-400 jobs in Galway. Met Life currently employs 300 people in Ireland.

Laya Healthcare gets RDS naming rights

Laya Healthcare has secured the naming rights to the RDS venue in Dublin for about €8 million, the

Sunday Business Post

reports.

The 10-year sponsorship deal was sealed by Leinster Rugby on behalf of the RDS, which has been Leinster’s home since 2007. There are proposals to redevelop the Ballsbridge site and the sponsorship revenue would help fund this .

Plans include an increase in capacity from 18,500 to 21,000 at rugby matches.

Cuts to help Debenhams Ireland survive

Staff at retailer Debenhams have voted to back a sustainability plan that includes up to 70 redundancies, a pay freeze and a harmonisation of pay grades across the company, according to the

Sunday Times

.

The plan was negotiated between Debenhams Retail (Ireland), which is in examinership, and trade unions Siptu and Mandate.

The staff restructuring is likely to pave the way for examiner Kieran Wallace of KPMG to finalise a rescue plan by the end of the month.

Location privacy for internet users

Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner will this week issue detailed guidance on internet users’ right to privacy regarding their location, in light of the rise of GPS-enabled apps and games such as

Pokemon Go

, according to the

Sunday Independent

.

A spokesman for the Data Protection Commissioner told the newspaper that it was not aware of any specific data protection issues having arisen as a result of Pokemon Go, but said users should be aware of the terms they agree to when they install the app.

Alibaba considers data centre in Ireland

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has looked into the possibility of having a data centre in Ireland, reports the Sunday Independent. Alibaba and other tech giants may invest up to €7 billion in data centres here over the next decade, it said, citing figures from Eirgrid.

Industry sources told the newspaper that representatives of Alibaba were in Ireland last month examining city sites for a small installation and greenfield sites for a larger one.