Infoscore Software Services Ireland, a newly created software company in Kilkenny, said it expects a five-fold increase in staff by the end of 2003 despite the gloom in the high-tech sector arising from the slowdown in the US economy.

The company, a subsidiary of the German-based specialised credit and risk management company InFoScore Group, was officially opened yesterday and will initially employ 21 staff providing software development services to the InFoScore Group and to external customers.

The company, which plans to raise the number of staff to 100 by the end of 2003, said it was optimistic about growth in the software market because it was focusing on the European rather than the US market.