Bermuda-based insurer Max Capital plans to expand its European operation, using its existing Dublin office as a springboard and creating a number of new jobs there, according to Irish newspaper The Sunday Business Post.

The paper said that company, which joined forces with IPC Holdings Ltd. to form the Island's sixth largest global underwriter, as reported in The Royal Gazette earlier this month, plans to use its Dublin-based subsidiary, Max Europe, as a base from which to expand into other European markets.

It claimed that John Boylan, head of the company's insurance operations in Dublin, said the firm intended to use its Irish regulatory approval to ''passport'' into other European Union (EU) states.

Mr. Boylan said that the expansion would result in a number of extra jobs at the company's Dublin office, as Ireland would provide support to the firm's new operations in other European markets, reported the paper.

The firm set up its European reinsurance business in Dublin in 2001, followed by its insurance operation in Ireland in 2003. It deals mainly with corporate clients and offers a range of products including general liability and professional liability.

The Dublin office also provides back-office support for the Bermuda office and Mr. Boylan said that staff numbers at the firm had grown from six people at the end of 2003 to about 36 today. EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy recently opened Max Europe's new, larger offices in Dublin, which will cater for the company's planned European expansion.