151 High Technology Positions To Be Created In The Mid-West

Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheal Martin has announced that ACI Worldwide, a leading international provider of software for electronic payment systems, has established a new global technical resource centre in Limerick.

Supported by IDA Ireland, the centre will be a value-added operation and will create 100 new high level positions in R&D, software, technical support and finance. All employees will require 3rd level qualifications.

The Limerick centre, ACI Worldwide Ireland, will oversee remote software development operations and will offer industry leading programming and product architecture expertise in several geographic regions to service and support a growing international customer base.

The first regional centre has been established in Timisoara, Romania.

The Limerick office will also help optimise supply chain efficiencies, serve as the focal point for international marketing, product development and commercialisation efforts for key products within ACI's product family, and will manage the intellectual property rights of key ACI software solutions, including the BASE24-eps enterprise payment system.

Minister Martin said: "This is excellent news for Limerick. It will offer high quality employment opportunities with 50% of the new positions across R&D and technical areas. There was considerable competition across Europe for this investment and we are delighted that Limerick could provide the level of skills, expertise and an innovative environment that ACI requires for all its future business developments."

Iain Kenny, Managing Director, ACI Worldwide Ireland, said: "We believe our opportunities for growth exist primarily in international markets. The Limerick facility plays directly into our globalisation strategy by providing us with a centre of expertise to support our growing international customer base. Redefining our infrastructure is critical to our globalisation strategy, and this facility will ensure ACI remains competitive in the international market."

(CD)