Finance provider CIT Group has said it will provide 150 new jobs in Dublin over the next three to five years, following the expansion of its European vendor finance headquarters in Blackrock.

Cormac Costelloe, CIT managing director of vendor finance in Europe, said the new offices meant that the number of employees at the Blackrock office could grow from 450 to about 600.

The expanded facility, which was officially opened by Minister for Education and Science Mary Hanafin yesterday, serves as the hub for the company's growing vendor finance business in Europe, which provides Dell, Microsoft and Avaya with finance options for their customers.

The Blackrock office first opened in 1999, when seven employees served 12,000 customers.

The company now has 200,000 vendor finance customers. It also employs 30 people at the International Financial Services Centre, where its international aerospace business is located.

Mr Costelloe said CIT had assets of about €9 billion in the Republic, including €6.5 billion in its vendor finance business.

He said CIT, which is a Fortune 500 company and is listed on the S&P 500 index in New York, was on track to meet its target to have 25 per cent of its asset base located outside the US, and that the timescale for the new jobs in Blackrock would depend on the business won by its customers.

"There is obviously some turmoil in the markets right now, but we see good potential for growth," Mr Costelloe said.

The company has recorded organic growth percentages in the high 20s, and has also expanded as a result of the acquisition of Barclays' European vendor finance business earlier this year.

Mr Costelloe added that Dublin was an ideal gateway for CIT to access Europe, where it does business in 18 countries.

Jeffrey Peek, chairman and chief executive of CIT, said the group's investment in Dublin was central to its European expansion plans.

Mr Peek also announced a donation of €25,000 to the Enterprise Challenge, a year-long programme for young people in the Dún Laoghaire area organised by Junior Achievement Ireland.