 Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests. On behalf of the Irish government, I would like to welcome you to Dublin for your gathering this weekend. And it's particularly pleasing that this important event is taking place in historic Dublin Castle, where just a few months ago I had the pleasure of hosting the European Commission's digital agenda assembly as part of the Irish presidency of the EU in 2013. That was a hugely successful gathering of a very wide range of global stakeholders in the digital and broadband sectors. And I'm sure that your event will be similarly successful. The Broadband Commission embraces a truly wide range of different perspectives, many of which I know are represented here this evening, and I wish to welcome each of you here tonight to Dublin Castle. The Commission's wide range of membership, including government ministers, industry leaders, senior policy makers, international agencies and academia, has ensured that rich insights, influence and experience has been brought to bear on how to deploy and use broadband network and services to the benefit of communities throughout the world. The establishment of the Broadband Commission in 2010 stemmed from the recognition and belief by the UN and the International Telecommunications Union that broadband has the power to transform societal and economic development. I understand that our Taoiseach will address the Commission tomorrow, and I think it's highly likely that he will affirm our government's strong belief in that transformative power of broadband availability. As you will hear from him, the government here is undertaking significant public investment, primarily in rural parts of Ireland over the next few years, to ensure that all citizens and businesses have access to the most modern and resilient broadband infrastructure and services. While our major urban areas continue to attract significant commercial development and digital services, many parts of provincial Ireland are being left behind because the thinly dispersed population and topography does not make it a commercially viable proposition for market operators. As a government, therefore, we simply cannot afford to allow a major digital divide between urban and rural parts of the country to take hold. I'm particularly proud of my department's ongoing investment in the installation of the high-speed, symmetrical broadband connectivity to all second-level schools in the country. This ambitious project, run in cooperation with our colleagues in the Department of Education, has revolutionized the teaching and learning environments for current and future generations of Irish school children. Bringing digital into the classroom is no longer an optional extra. If we are to properly equip our children to live and work in modern society, then we must ensure that they have the right skill sets and expertise. Investing now in digital learning and skills is one way of meeting this important challenge. In rural communities, even with basic mobile connectivity, we have seen the potential for broadband to transform our people's lives and how they conduct business. For example, it has enabled small enterprises to expand their customer reach while remaining in their community and has greatly helped these small enterprises that rely heavily on the tourism sector, for example, for their livelihood. I'm pleased to be able to fund programs as well that allow our community and voluntary sector to run basic digital literacy courses for those who are often on the margins of the digital society. These, called benefit schemes, have helped us make great progress in recent years in ensuring that the unemployed, the elderly and poorly educated have access to services to enable them overcome digital literacy problems. Many people assume that broadband and the internet is for young people only, but in my time as Minister for Communications I have seen at first hand the extent to which this technology can transform the lives of those who are elderly and often alone are isolated. Because of this country's long history of immigration, many elderly people in this country experience chronic loneliness, as most, if not all, of their family can be living abroad. Through the provision of basic training in digital skills, our funded programs have enabled many to quickly and easily become familiar with applications such as email and Skype. With this simple yet wonderful technology, isolation and loneliness can quickly be overcome. In conclusion, I would again thank the organisers for their invitation to address you this evening, and I hope that you enjoy your visit to Dublin. As Minister for Communications for the past three years, I fully support the goals and objectives of the Broadband Commission, and I wish you the very best in your future endeavours. As we move towards an increasing amount of public services going online, we must ensure that all citizens have both the opportunity and the capacity to do so. I congratulate the organisers again of this event. I'm delighted to see you all in Dublin. I welcome you to Dublin Castle, and I wish the conference tomorrow every success. Thank you very much indeed.