A US dental insurance claims company will expand its presence in Mayo, with the creation of 210 jobs in Crossmolina by this time next year.

However, the chief executive of DeCare International in Minnesota, Mr Michael F Walsh, has warned that the west will require improved infrastructure, particularly power supply, if businesses are to continue to invest in the region.

The €2.6 million (£2.05 million) investment is supported by IDA Ireland, and will be the third Irish operation run by DeCare International. It will serve as an extension to the existing claims processing office run by DeCare in Claremorris, Co Mayo, when it opens in late 2002.

Delta Dental Plan of Minnesota (DDPM), the Claremorris subsidiary, sells dental insurance cover to corporate clients for their staff benefit programmes. Currently, 110 people are employed in Claremorris, while more than 70 people are employed at the DeCare Delta Systems Ireland software company in Cork.

Mr Walsh, the Mayo-born president and chief executive officer of Delta Dental Plan and its parent company, DeCare International, said it was "critical" that the company had proper infrastructure in place to handle new business.

The company, he said, had received assurances from the local authority and from western agency representatives that infrastructure in the west would be improved.

The Crossmolina office will be located in a new 10,000 sq ft building, which the company is to lease following its construction by a local developer. The site was purchased by the company from Mayo County Council. DeCare International employs more than 650 people, and reported revenues of $517 million (€583 million) in 2000.