Social media giant Facebook has announced it is expanding its Dublin presence, with the potential to add 5,000 jobs.

The company has acquired a long-term lease of 14 acres for a new development at the Bank Centre in Dublin 4, currently occupied by AIB.

Facebook says the move will see it quadruple its current floorspace to 870,000 square foot across a number of buildings.

Last year, marking its ninth year in Ireland, Facebook opened its third office and announced that it would create hundreds of new jobs.

By the end of 2018, there will be over 4,000 people working for Facebook here across its four locations.

Facebook’s international headquarters is in Dublin's Grand Canal Square, and it also has operations in the Samuel Beckett Building, a data centre in Meath and Facebook Reality Labs in Cork.

In a statement, the company says: "Ireland is critically important to Facebook and plays a central role in its global operations as home to over 60 teams including engineers, safety experts, legal professionals, policy experts, marketing and sales teams covering many facets of the social network.

"A number of global and regional teams are run out of Ireland including the global gaming team, and the team that helps small, medium sized business across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) connect with customers."

File photo shows AIB headquarters in Ballsbridge, Dublin | Image: Gareth Chaney/RollingNews.ie

Gareth Lambe is head of Facebook Ireland.

"Ireland is one of the best places in the world to be a technology company and we're investing here for the long term.

"By the end of the year we'll employ more than 4,000 people across four sites in Ireland working on our family of apps including Facebook, Instagram, Whats App and Oculus.

"This significant investment in a 14-acre campus with capacity for thousands more employees demonstrates our commitment to Ireland, our desire to grow our business here and continue to contribute to the economy."

Minister for Business Heather Humphreys added: "The acquisition of this new campus is a landmark day for Facebook, which established its International HQ in Dublin in December 2008 and has expanded significantly in Ireland over the last 3-4 years.

"Without a doubt, this expansion is a huge vote of confidence in Ireland and our pro-enterprise policies.

"Above all, it is a testament to the calibre of our rich pool of talent, who have contributed so positively to the company’s global growth in the last decade."