Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

There are issues of an ageing population and in terms of financial sustainability right across the globe. We are hearing the same refrain from Health Ministers all over the world. We have just been through the EU Health Presidency. I am on first-name terms with all my colleagues at this stage. There are similarities in terms of the issues. There are no big surprises. The big issues at global level in any major international debate on health are financial sustainability, the ageing population and the health care costs of meeting the demands of an ageing population, which I accept we have not addressed properly as a society. It is a societal response that will determine that, and it is a key issue.