Taoiseach Officially Opens New Google Data Centre

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has officially opened Google's new €150 million data centre in West Dublin, bring the company's total invest in Ireland to more than €750m.

Mr Kenny was joined by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O'Connor TD.

Speaking at the event, Mr Kenny said: "The opening of this new €150 million data centre opens a new chapter in Google's story in Ireland. With the number of people employed by Google now surpassing 6,000, the company is a fantastic leader within Ireland's digital community.

"The Government's priority is to make Ireland a more competitive location for new investment and job creation, and the ongoing development of Ireland's digital industry is a key part of that plan."

Minister O'Connor added: "I am delighted to be present at Google's latest investment project in Ireland. Google's continued investment in Ireland is very welcome and this new Data Centre further enhances Google's presence in Ireland and is a vindication of the competitive advantage we can offer high technology companies. It is also a further commendation of the skilled Irish workforce available to such companies.

"I want to ensure that we create a supportive environment for enterprise to develop and attracting more companies in Ireland will contribute to developing our economy as only a strong economy supporting people at work can pay for the services needed to create a fair society.

"The extensive Google operation in Ireland has grown very significantly in recent years and we look forward to our very successful relationship continuing to develop in the years ahead."

The new two-storey data centre, which houses computers that run services such as the Google search engine, Gmail and Google Maps, was built alongside Google's existing data centre which opened in 2012.

Construction of the data centre took just over one year to complete and 400 jobs were created during construction. Over a dozen specialist building and engineering companies contributed to the build and over 80% of the businesses involved were Irish.

Now that it is operational, the data centre will provide employment for 30 people in a range of roles including computer technicians, electrical and mechanical engineers, catering and security staff.

(MH/JP)