THE electronics firm, Silicon & Software Systems, has announced an £11 million expansion plan which will bring its workforce to 300. The firm currently employs almost 200 people in Dublin, Cork and San Jose in California.

At a party to celebrate the company's first 10 years yesterday, the chief executive of IDA Ireland, Mr Kieran McGowan, pointed out that, although the company was controlled by the Dutch electronics giant Phillips, it was started and is run entirely by Irish people.

"It is a prime example of how Irish electronics design and research skills can produce what has become a leading player in the global electronics market," he said.

The firm was established with the backing of the IDA in 1986 by Mr Maurice Whelan, then Professor of Microelectronics at Trinity College, Dublin.

It specialises in the design of silicon chips, software and hardware for many of the world's leading multinational companies, and is involved in design in the fields of digital television, mobile and cordless communications, telecommunications, audio and video, networking systems and automotive electronics.

For the past three years, the company has recorded annual growth of over 20 per cent - its projected revenues for this year are £10 million. Some 95 per cent of the company's turnover is export oriented, principally to Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France and Belgium. In 1994, it opened a twin company in San Jose, California.

Construction of a new 25,200 square foot design facility at Dublin's South County Business Park is expected to be complete by Christmas.