First Minister the Rt Hon Peter D Robinson MLA, deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness MLA have welcomed US firm Caterpillar's decision to expand its Northern Ireland manufacturing operation in Larne.

The company has announced an investment of £5.4million in the production of articulated truck axles.

Welcoming the announcement the First Minister Peter Robinson said: "I welcome today’s announcement that Caterpillar is to expand its operations further in Northern Ireland. We recently met with Caterpillar senior management during our visit to Chicago at the company’s headquarters in Peoria. We used that opportunity to sell the many benefits of investing in Northern Ireland directly to Caterpillar.

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"This is another extremely positive investment of over £5million from one of Northern Ireland’s most established engineering firms. This expansion will see the further development of skills at Caterpillar and is a well deserved vote of confidence in the quality of the Northern Ireland workforce."

The deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said: "The First Minister and I met with Senior Executives in Caterpillar as part of our trade mission to the US in October 2013. During this meeting we reinforced our commitment to work closely with Caterpillar to protect existing jobs and identify areas of possible expansion.

"This further investment by Caterpillar is good news for employees, the local economy and is a strong endorsement of what the north of Ireland has to offer. It confirms our position as an excellent investment location for global companies."

(CD/MH)