A WATERFORD company is to undertake a £17 million expansion programme which will result in 150 new jobs.

Allied Signal Ireland, which makes turbocharger wheel castings for cars, is being backed by IDA Ireland in the investment. It will transform the Waterford facility into a fully integrated operation.

The expanded factory will supply world markets with fully finished compressor and turbine wheels, two core components of the turbocharger. Production capacity will also be significantly increased.

Allied Signal Ireland is a subsidiary of Allied Signal in the US. The group designs turbo systems for petrol and diesel engines.

The company has 50 per cent of the world turbocharger market, which it says is growing at 14 per cent per year, due to the continued growth in passenger car applications, particularly in diesel and smaller car models.

The Waterford plant will recruit 100 people within the next three years, with the remainder beings taken on over the following two years. A new foundry is being added to manufacture other components for turbochargers, using technology exclusive to Allied Signal.

The Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, said yesterday the project will further consolidate the Waterford factory as a key part of Allied's worldwide operation. It will also maintain the Irish company's position as, the world's largest supplier of turbocharger wheels, he said.

Established in Ireland in 1979, the Irish operation now employs' almost 450 people. It has three businesses at the Waterford Industrial Estate.

The initial business - automotive turbocharger components - has, until this investment, manufactured products for shipment to Allied Signal's other facilities in Britain, France, Italy, China, the US and Japan, for machining and assembly into finished turbochargers.