German semiconductor firm ZMDI is to create 35 highly-skilled engineering positions for graduates and technicians over the next five years.

The company today confirmed plans to establish an R&D centre in Limierck which will focus on the development of products for the smart power management sector.

Making the announcement this morning, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said the decision to base the centre in Limerick was a major endorsement of the country's capabilities in the area of analog and mixed signal electronics and R&D.

Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden AG (ZMDI) is a supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors for the mobile medical, industrial automation and consumer markets.

The company designs and markets application-specific standard products (ASSPs) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

Headquartered in Dresden, ZMDI has 280 employees worldwide.

In a second, separate announcement, CashIQ announced plans to create 45 jobs in Dublin over the next three years in research, IT and business development.

The company today launched a new business search engine that provides financial information onover 8 million companies in Ireland and Britain.