US-BASED insurance company Aon Corporation has said it will create 100 high-skilled jobs at a new research and development centre in Dublin, increasing the size of its 460-strong Irish workforce by more than a fifth.

The centre, which will be based in the IFSC in Dublin, will be the first research and development insurance operation in Ireland, the company said. It will collect information from Aon's operations around the world and use mathematical and analytical techniques to devise new products for clients.

Aon, an insurance and reinsurance brokerage, provides risk management services.

The company has operations in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Mullingar and Belfast. Aon's Irish operations are divided into retail insurance, which employs 280 people; pensions, which has a staff of 80; and risk management consulting, which employs 100 people.

Stephen Cross, chief executive of Aon Global Risk Consulting, said insurance was more important to businesses now than 24 or 36 months ago due to the financial crisis. Insurers needed to develop products for the "new environment". "Approaches to risk in financial services are going to change."

Mr Cross said Aon chose Ireland for its RD centre, which is being supported with an investment from IDA Ireland, due to its geographical location and the availability of a well-educated workforce in Ireland.

Chicago-based Aon, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and which has a market cap of $12 billion, employs 36,000 people worldwide.