Taoiseach, Ambassador, Robert, assembled guests and friends,
It is a great pleasure to be here today and I want to welcome Zalando to Dublin.
There are many historic connections between Germany and Ireland.
Leinster House, for example - home to our national parliament - was designed by Richard Castle, a German-born architect.
Handel's Messiah - one of the most illustrious gems in German music - had its debut in Dublin.
It's not just cultural connections, however.
Over time, Germany and Ireland have developed very strong economic ties.
And Zalando's decision to locate its Fashion Insights Centre is the latest very positive development in that relationship.
It underscores once again Ireland's attractiveness as a location for inward investment, and Dublin's emergence as a centre of digital excellence, with many of the world's leading online companies now based here.
It is amazing how quickly online business is evolving, and changing the way we all do business.
15 or 20 years ago, it would have been hard to imagine why a fashion retailer would need engineers, for example, unless they were an actual manufacturer and had machines to take care of.
Today we live in a very different world, and the 200 staff that Zalando will hire will work across research and development, big data analysis, data science and engineering to help improve the company's offering for customers.
This is precision retail, and evidence of the approach that has seen Zalando grow into Europe's leading online fashion platform.
Earlier, Robert and Eric described the kind of employee they are looking for - high calibre independent thinkers who like a challenge but appreciate the importance of fieldwork.
You will find no shortage of such candidates in Ireland, and the Department of Social Protection, which I oversee and which helps employers to meet their recruitment needs, stands ready to assist in any way we can.
While on that topic, I just want to mention an innovative new approach which the Department is undertaking.
Much like the way business is very different now because of online, the Department does its business as a public employment service in a radically different way.
Under the Pathways to Work strategy to increase employment, we now have a dedicated Employer Engagement Unit to ensure that we assist employers as well as jobseekers – to everyone’s benefit.
And very shortly, we will appoint a number of staff to work as Key Account Managers in that unit.
These Key Account Managers will work closely with some of the 460 largest employers in the State.
Through this work, they will identify and plan recruitment requirements and actively promote candidates from the Live Register for available positions.
That gives just a flavour of the ways in which we support employers, and we stand ready to assist Zalando as it builds in Dublin.
I want to welcome you again and wish you every success.
Ends