 The event, I think, is very timely. As a society, we are increasingly relying on the internet and online services to conduct everyday business. The internet offers opportunities for business efficiency, growth, and seamless cost-effective communications that could not even have been dreamt of a short few years ago. For this reason, across the world, in Europe and here in Ireland, we are working to increase connectivity, provide better systems to interact across borders, and encourage digital adoption by business and citizens. As we work to reap the full benefits of a digitally engaged society, one of our key challenges is to ensure that these citizens and businesses have confidence in the security of our internet systems. That means that their personal, financial, and business information is safely stored and that the critical infrastructures which digital services support are not vulnerable to attack. It's not surprising, therefore, that cyber security is one of the key pillars of the digital agenda for Europe, and why it is so high on the agenda of national governments. We are increasingly dependent on well-functioning, resilient, and secure network and information systems. As consumers, we use the internet for banking, education, entertainment, social interaction, and travel, just to name a few. And this are the not-so-obvious services which support economic development in society. These include energy, financial services, telecoms, health, transport, e-commerce. Critical infrastructures such as these are increasingly dependent on the seamless operation of digital technologies and internet communication channels. An open and stable cyberspace throughout the world is critically important if we are to maintain the momentum of growth in this sector. Cyber protection is a global concern. It requires all state and private actors work together to protect our critical infrastructures. Ireland's geographical position on the North Atlantic Transcontinental Corridor, connecting Europe and North America, has created considerable opportunities. It has allowed us to benefit from a high degree of interconnectivity, to benefit from the ability to host domestic and international data and call centres, and to attract top international digital service and ICT companies. For example, nine of the top 10 US ICT companies and the top 10 born on the internet companies are all based or represented here in Ireland. Companies and services such as these require resilient and secure infrastructure, as do the thousands of indigenous companies of all sizes that use the internet to transact efficiently. At a national level, cyber security is therefore critically important to underpin growth, prosperity and general economic development. Policy makers, regulators, service providers, industry partners and citizens each have their own responsibility to ensure that we are protecting infrastructure and services from cyber attacks. Keeping pace with the ever-increasing sophistication of cyber attacks is a challenge for us all and I am pleased therefore that the IIA is hosting this important conference with such a high calibre of speakers lined up to address this topic as the morning goes on. Indeed yesterday, officials from my own department and a range of other departments and agencies hosted a roundtable discussion with one of your key speakers here later this morning, Michael Daniels. Michael is a special assistant, is special assistant to President Obama and the US cybersecurity coordinator. I am delighted to see that he is speaking at this event, offering insights and learnings from the US experience in this area. It is clear that the cyber security challenge needs to be addressed at a number of levels. At the highest level, governments need to put the appropriate governance arrangements in place including appropriate emergency response procedures. Industry manufacturers and users of ICT also need to make the appropriate investments and end users need to remain aware of the risks and interact responsibly online. As citizens, we are expected to use antivirus software technology when communicating on the internet. We expect in turn that commercial online services will protect data encompassing both corporate information, intellectual property and our personal data. We expect that as a society, we can effectively hold criminals and other malicious actors to account through appropriate and proportionate laws and regulations that are fit for purpose. At the policy level, new EU and national structures have been established to address these challenges. These include the computer emergency response community, the European Centre for Cyber Crime in Europe, cyber crime centres of excellence such as, for example, UCD and the extension of mandate for the European network and information security agency, NISA, which was negotiated as part of the Irish presidency of the European Union. During the Irish presidency earlier this year, the European Commission published proposals for a new strategy on an open, safe and secure cyber space. This cyber security strategy aims to protect the same norms, principles and offline values that we hold in the online environment. The strategy included a proposal for a directive on network and information security. The directive aims to increase the level of preparedness in all EU member states. It also addresses secure information sharing between member states and the requirement for critical infrastructure stakeholders to report cyber security breaches. While there is further detailed negotiation required, I believe this is an important further step in the formation of a robust European response on cyber protection. The role and importance of structured exercises in improving cyber security has also been an important aspect of EU policy. Ireland has organised and participated in national and international structured exercises in cyber security. These exercises are very useful in that they bring key stakeholders together to address common problems and challenges. These exercises, along with conferences like today, provide essential networking opportunities and help build a community of allies to call on when cyber incidents do occur. The European initiative aims to address a key pillar of the vision for a digitally engaged Europe as envisaged in the digital agenda for Europe. In Ireland, my own department, in conjunction with critical infrastructure partners and international peers, is developing a cyber security capability. This encompasses the creation of a National Cyber Security Centre, which includes a computer emergency response function, building partnerships with industry partners, and the delivery of public awareness activities. In tandem with this initiative, the Make It Secure campaign, which was part-sponsored by industry and supported by my department, aims to inform small and medium-sized businesses and citizens on steps they can take to improve their own cyber security. The various government departments and agencies work closely together, co-operating to develop robust responses to cyber crime, to data protection and protection of government networks. Finally, I hope that this conference will help guide us on steps that we will be taking to improve our security, recognising that each of us is ultimately responsible for our own online security. Government will continue to play a key role in establishing an appropriate environment that facilitates an open, safe and resilient cyber space for the digital economy and for the digital society. Many of your expert speakers, I appreciate, Chairman, have travelled far to be with us here today. I expect the debate will be interesting and informative and will explore many new ideas for tackling our common challenges associated with the cyber space. I wish the conference well and look forward to learning from the outputs. Thank you very much, Chairman.