Good evening ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to have the opportunity to address you this evening to mark the official opening of Zendesk’s new offices here on the Grand Canal.
On a recent trip to the US West Coast I had the pleasure of meeting both Adrian and Mikkel, who are both here today, and I know that Mikkel has travelled to be with us. I would also like to acknowledge Matt Price and Colum Twomey of Zendesk.
Since your arrival in Ireland in late 2012, your story has been one of remarkable success, and your decision to locate, and to grow your European HQ here represents an exciting prospect for the future development of our high tech sector.
Today we are happy to mark your ongoing expansion plans, and I am delighted to note that your new offices will facilitate an increase of up to 150 employees from the current headcount of 52. Welcome news indeed.
Another admirable aspect of your company’s business philosophy is your commitment to the wider community, through voluntary work and company sponsorship. We in Ireland want our business community to be part of the wider community.
I know that you have many worthy plans for your Dublin office this year in this regard, and this aspect of your ethos and work is to be greatly commended.
This Government is committed to helping to create the right environment for businesses such as Zendesk and others to grow and prosper.
We are very much aware of the need to train skilled IT professionals to ensure that dynamic ICT companies like Zendesk can find the right people.
Our investment in Ireland’s education system over the years has enabled us to attract and retain many multinational companies in the IT sector who are seeking to expand their markets, and I want to assure you that the Government will continue do all it can to help companies find the solutions they need to invest and expand here.
When I was in San Francisco recently I reiterated the point to both Adrian and Mikkel that Ireland is a country with a plan.
That we intend to keep making the changes required to make Ireland more attractive for jobs and investment.
That this Government has a creditable plan to get debt and borrowing under control by eliminating the deficit by 2018 and to return the country to full employment by 2020.
Businesses are hiring again and we’ve seen the live register drop for a continuous 23 months in a row. As a result the Government is on target to hit 100,000 new jobs by 2016.
Late last year, Forbes named Ireland as ‘Best Country For Business’ showing that, despite economic troubles, Ireland still maintains an extremely pro-business environment attracting investments by some of the world’s biggest companies over the past decade.
The Government's Action Plan for Jobs is our key job-creation policy instrument. Now in its third year, this cross-governmental process has truly been a success story.
Each Action Plan also includes several landmark projects, or Disruptive Reforms, that the Government has identified as having potential to have a real and immediate impact on enterprise and jobs. Two of these reforms are to make Ireland the leading country in Europe in Big Data, and the most attractive location in the world for ICT Skills availability.
I believe that Government has succeeded in laying the seeds for future growth and tackling many issues, especially in restoring our competitiveness, which is of benefit to our business community.
We are pro-business and proud to always be to the forefront of the minds of global business leaders as they make critical investment decisions.
To conclude, I am very impressed with Zendesk’s success to date and in particular the company’s investment in Ireland and the new jobs you are creating.
Thank you again for the opportunity to speak with you today. I want to assure you of my Government’s on-going support, and I wish your company and its employees every success in the future.