Google's new digital innovation centre – The Foundry – has been officially opened in Dublin.
The technology company has invested €5.5 million in the facility, which will be used to host events and meetings attended by business people from around Europe.
Google says the centre will host 80 events by the end of this year.
The company anticipates that it will attract 15,000 business travellers to the city during a full year.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton both attended the opening of the centre at Google's Europe, Middle East and Africa headquarters in Dublin city.
Mr Bruton said the centre will "draw companies from across Europe to Dublin", adding to its reputation in the technology industry.
Google Vice President and Irish chief John Herlihy said it made strategic sense to locate the centre in Ireland "where we can leverage the incredible wealth of knowledge and skills within our own organisation and can share that with entrepreneurs and established companies from all over Europe".
He said the company is proud of what it is doing, and what it does stands up to any form of scrutiny.
Mr Herlihy was responding to questions from RTÉ News about the growing controversy about how data belonging to users of Google and other online companies is being accessed by national security authorities in the US and elsewhere.
He said he did not think the company was suffering a backlash as a result of the revelations.
He said at any point in time there will be lots of attention on companies working on the internet because digital information is different to the old analogue business.
However, he said the attention was not a concern for Google Ireland at all and the company has been staying focused over the past year on getting its new digital innovation centre, the Foundry, open.
