madam president i would like to say first of all how pleased i was to attend the development days in stockholm and to congratulate the presidency on the way those days were organised
i took part in a debate recently on the irish public service radio rté with a woman who was very concerned that we were cutting health spending and not doing enough to cut back on development aid spending
i had to explain that it was not a matter of either or but that it was a matter of both
we can do both
i would urge given that we are concentrating so much on the need for recovery in europe and the need to deal with the crisis we find ourselves in which of course must be at the top of our domestic agenda that we do not lose sight of the fact that eleven million children are dying each year in the developing world five million of them because they do not have medicines we have had for thirty years
so please keep that at the top of the agenda and make sure when we appoint the new person in charge of external relations that dealing with this issue remains one of our key objectives
well done on what you have done so far
