Online auction website Ebay has played down rumours that it is planning to create hundreds of new jobs in Blanchardstown in Dublin 15.

The rumours circulated after the company quietly examined its options in relation to renting a larger office building in the area than it currently occupies.

However, a spokesman for the company said it was "unlikely to relocate" from its current base in the Atrium building near Blanchardstown Town Centre.

The company has an upcoming break option in its lease and "it was only prudent" that it see whether it could get better value for money elsewhere.

Ebay currently rents just under 7,000sq m of office space there but the rumours suggested that landlords had been told that the company was now looking for between 7,500sq m and 9,300sq mof offices.

Last month, PayPal, which is owned by eBay and currently employs more than 1,100 people at its separate Blanchardstown site, announced that it would be creating a further 100 jobs there, following on from 150 other new jobs created last year.

PayPal is based in the former Xerox factory there.

Ebay recently reported that its fourth-quarter net profit in 2009 was $1.4bn (€1bn), up from $367m the previous year.

Revenue rose 11% in the United States and 21% internationally, the company said.