Tánasite announces major new investment for Donegal

'Potential 450 new jobs in Prudential Insurance Company of America' - Harney

'Important vote of confidence for the North West Region'

Mary Harney T.D, Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, announced in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, today (Tuesday 26th June 2001) that Prumerica Systems Ireland, Limited, a unit of ThePrudential Insurance Company of America, is to significantly expand its operations in Letterkenny, with the support of IDA Ireland, in developments which will add 325 new jobs by the end of 2003, with the potential for a further 125 new jobs as the operations develop. “This 450 job expansion from one of the largest life insurance companies in the US and `which is among the largest financial institutions in the world, is unqualified recognition of the suitability of regional locations for top quality service businesses. It is a further breakthrough for the Government and for the IDA in promoting the case for Objective One locations” said the Tánaiste

Prumerica will establish an Operations Centre for customer service and transactions processing in a new 22,000 sq. ft building adjoining its existing software development facility on the IDA Letterkenny Office Park. The software development operations will also be substantially expanded as part of the development.

“Prumerica's experience in Co. Donegal has been extremely positive. This investment is an important vote of confidence in the North-West Region and in its ability to provide the skilled people and quality support required by a flagship operation such as Prumerica, one of the new generation of global financial services companies. We are beginning to see the follow-on benefits of our successful strategy of attracting this new breed of company to the Region in recent times” said the Tánaiste.

“Today's announcement brings to nearly 800 the number of new jobs announced in IDA backed projects for Donegal in just over six months and this is clear evidence that the new focus and strategy adopted following the Donegal Task Force review is working,” added Mary Harney.

She acknowledged that there was still much work to be done to ensure that Donegal continued to develop and grow its economy in line with other parts of the country. She also praised the cross border activity undertaken between the IDA and IDB to raise the profile of the North-West Region as a whole and welcomed the joint promotion of the Region by both Agencies for new overseas investment.

“It has been just over a year since Prumerica Systems Ireland, Limited, began operations and we are extremely pleased with our accomplishments and with the strong support we have received from IDA Ireland and from local government officials,” said Paul Carmody, Managing Director of the company. “The vigorous economy has enticed information technology (IT) professionals in Dublin to look at new growth areas within Ireland, such as Letterkenny. Our approach of providing high quality jobs with competitive compensation packages attracts the skilled work force we desire as we continue our expansion and hiring in Letterkenny”. The Prumerica expansion involves combined company and IDA Ireland investment totalling €5.5 million.

The Tánaiste continued “There will be a speedy build up in employment. The Operations Centre will require high calibre service centre people, many with Certificate level qualifications, and back-office processing staff. The software development centre expansion will require people with software programming and high-level testing skills. The new activities will provide further career opportunities for graduates of the Institutes of Technology in Letterkenny and Sligo and the University of Ulster's Magee College in Derry. They will also offer the opportunity for highly skilled people, across the range of diverse disciplines, to return or relocate to the quality lifestyle of Co. Donegal.”.

At Prumerica's new Operations Centre the customer services will include a transactions operation unit that will handle claims shipped and digitally transmitted from the US for processing and completion. The existing software development operation is being expanded to bring in-house some of the critical activities currently carried out by consultants or through outsourcing. The company believes that the work of maintaining its applications and platforms within the company, where new products can be developed and added, will give a stronger synergy to its operation. In addition, further development will take place of the company's Letterkenny Software Quality Assurance Centre-of-Excellence, which provides standardised quality assurance on various systems software releases.

Prumerica Systems' Letterkenny facility, which began operations in July 2000, originally planned to create 150 new jobs over two years, has already achieved this employment target, a year ahead of schedule. It develops, tests and maintains applications for its parent company related to the sales, management and administration of Prudential's insurance and investment products.

The Prudential Insurance Company of America, with more than $371 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2000, is one of the largest life insurance companies in the US and is among the largest financial services institutions in the world. Prudential serves millions of individual and institutional customers worldwide and offers a variety of products and services, including life insurance, property and casualty insurance, mutual funds, annuities, pension and retirement related services and administration, asset management, securities brokerage, real estate brokerage franchising and relocation services. The Prudential Insurance Company of America is not affiliated with the UK-based Prudential PLC.

Frank Conlon, Area Director for IDA Ireland, welcoming the developments at Prumerica, said “We continue to work in a focussed way to attract further investments to Co. Donegal from international companies. However, it is necessary to stress the need for an accelerated approach to the provision of the high quality infrastructure required by these companies, such as roads, telecommunications and electricity supply, if we are to continue to build on the successes of recent times. I wish to take this opportunity to acknowledge the support IDA gets from the people of the Region and the co-operation it receives from the many local organisations, state agencies, etc., particularly Donegal County Council, Letterkenny UDC, FÁS, Enterprise Ireland, Letterkenny Institute of Technology and the existing base of companies, who assist IDA greatly in marketing the Region.”

The Tánaiste continued by outlining the current IDA developments in Co. Donegal. At the IDA Letterkenny Business Park a 24,000 sq. ft. Advance Factory is nearing completion and planning permission is in place for a further 24,000 sq. ft. Advance Building on the Park. Also on the Business Park PacifiCare Health Systems has commenced construction of its 19,000 sq. ft. extension to its existing facility, with an expected completion date of the end of July. IDA has also recently acquired a 90 acres site, adjacent to the Park, and a planning application is currently being prepared for submission to Donegal County Council for the development of these lands into a modern high-technology Business Park.

At Ballyshannon, major siteworks are underway at IDA's 12 acres site and planning permission has been granted for a 24,000 sq. ft. Advance Factory. At Buncrana, IDA has recently acquired additional lands adjacent to its Lisfannon Business Estate and a planning application has been lodged for the development of the land and the construction of a new 24,000 sq. ft. Advance Factory. Also IDA continues to market former vacant Fruit-of-the-Loom facilities.

Other recent IDA Ireland supported investments in Co. Donegal.