Mr. Trevor White:

Good. I am pleased and encouraged to hear that.

I will respond to the Deputies' observations. I agree absolutely with Deputy Ó Caoláin about the importance of personal responsibility. Unfortunately, the trouble is that it is not a level playing field. To illustrate that point I cite research by a woman called Joanna Blythman, arguably the leading investigative journalist on the politics of food production in the United Kingdom. She discovered recently that for every pound the British Government spends on promoting the consumption of fruit and vegetables, healthy eating and stretching the legs, the top ten food and drink brands spend £99. In other words, every time a person is encouraged to take a walk or eat an apple he will hear 99 messages exhorting him to reach for the heavily sugared water or junk food. That is not a level playing field. Industry has completely skewed the terms of the debate. It is difficult because people are being robbed of individual liberty in this situation and it is deeply depressing. It is incumbent upon the committee members as legislators to acknowledge the scale of the problem and address it. That should not be done through wishy-washy well-meaning drivel such as telling people to go for a run. We are at crisis point, well beyond the wishy-washy stuff. We have an obligation to address this problem as a society. If we do not do so, the cost of treating these diseases will be astronomical, such that future generations will look back on us with embarrassment and disgust because we did not address this problem.