I wish to briefly mention the issue of obesity which I have been raising for the past five years. A recent documentary on RTE One did the country some service. It was by Dr. Eva Orsmond who has a reputation as a hardliner on this issue and came to be known through "Operation Transformation" some years ago. Most people who watched the documentary would have found it shocking, although it came as no surprise to me. There was one good suggestion in the documentary. I am often accused of being somewhat like a nanny state in my approach to this issue, but it is clear that something must be done. We cannot continue to say "No" to all the small measures that might help this issue. Parents need a hand when it comes to the issue of their children's health. They cannot be totally in control of what their children eat. Everyone tells me that the problem comes back to the parents, but we are on track to be the fattest people in Europe in a relatively short period. I have stated in this House 100 times that one in four children is overweight or obese. Children are having their teeth removed at a very young age. Imagine them going through life without their primary teeth, which they are losing before the age of ten years. It is frightening and I am blue in the face talking about the issue. I feel as if I am bashing my head against a brick wall. We have not done enough about it.

The Government, of which my party is a member, has not done enough about it. We are not taking it seriously enough. The argument was made that a sugar tax on its own would not make a difference. The same argument has been made about various other suggestions, but if we do not introduce changes, we will not solve this problem. We cannot continue leaving it up to parents because clearly nothing is being done in the short or longer term by them. Education is very important. One of the documentary's participants is involved in a school in County Louth-----

The Senator is over time.

I am not the only one to go a little over time. I feel very passionately about this issue.

The Senator has gone a fair bit over time.

The Senator should give me a chance. Food companies have a role to play, as does wider society and the Government. This may come across as a nanny state, but the Government clearly has a role to play in dealing with this issue. I hope if the Government is re-elected, it will put it at the very top of its list of priorities. We talk about the health service every day of the week-----

The Senator is way over time.

I will finish on this point. I apologise for going over time. We talk about the health service every day of the week and its difficulties. If we did not have so many people who are unhealthy because of diet choices, we would not have as many people in hospitals.

First and foremost, I remember a great Galwegian, Irishman and sportsman, Mr. Christy O'Connor Jnr. It was a sad day for all of us when he departed this world. I also acknowledge my former colleagues in the Permanent Defence Force and the Reserve Defence Force for the work they do. I reiterate that they were out in the floods, not because they wanted to be but because they had to be. They were ordered to be there. They were out morning, noon and night and provided great relief for householders.

Senator Catherine Noone will be rather surprised to hear that I totally support her. As a rotund gentleman, some might argue that I would not have a lot to say about obesity, but I paid and I am paying the price for obesity. I have type 2 diabetes and I am grossly overweight, although I am trying to do something about it. The no fry zone movement is calling for chip shops not to be located within 500 m of schools. There are schools from which children are popping out every day of the week to buy bags of chips and bottles of cola. This is worthy of a discussion in this House and I support Senator Catherine Noone's call in that regard. She has been embarrassing me on the issue of obesity for some time.

That was never my intention.