Prumerica Systems Ireland, part of one of the largest American life assurance companies, which set up a substantial operation in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, earlier last year, is on track for further expansion.

Already, it's employing approximately 200 people. It's part of the Prudential Insurance Company of America, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, one of the largest life insurance companies in the US and among the largest financial institutions in the world. It has more than 17 million individual and institutional customers in over 30 countries.

Early last year, it announced it was setting up its programming and technology development subsidiary in Letterkenny, in the process creating a strong linkage with the Letterkenny Institute of Technology. The company has fulfilled its initial promises over job levels and is set for further expansion. Its arrival has been a significant boost for Letterkenny's economic prospects, but IDA Ireland warns that there will have to be an accelerated approach to providing high quality infrastructure if recent job successes in the town are to be built on.

The company aims to attract highly skilled IT graduates to Letterkenny, for a higher quality of life and competitive rates of pay. The managing director of Prumerica, Paul Carmody, says that the area has proved extremely attractive to IT professionals and he is confident that the company will experience lasting success in Letterkenny. The company is very impressed with the quality of candidates presenting themselves, and recently announced further expansion in Letterkenny.

The software centre opened last year is going to be added to, while an operations centre is also to be established. This expansion is due to create 325 new jobs before the end of 2003. In addition, another 125 jobs could be created as the company's operations develop. Eventually, Prumerica Systems Ireland could provide 600 or more jobs in Letterkenny, where another US company, PacifiCare Health Systems, which processes claim forms, also announced an expansion recently, with another 160 new jobs being created.

At the recent announcement of Prumerica's £5.5 million expansion, backed by IDA Ireland, the Tβnaiste, Ms Harney, said that it was "an unqualified recognition of the suitability of regional locations for top quality service businesses".

It would also provide further career opportunities for graduates from the various colleges in the North-West, in Derry, Letterkenny and Sligo.