Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Chathaoirleach. I wish to acknowledge all of the St. Patrick's Day parades and the community groups who were involved in organising those at such short notice. The time on which the public health guidelines were lifted to when so many groups around the country co-ordinated bands, clubs, groups and organisations to come together was completely crucial. It was also a day of solidarity with Ukraine. As well as celebrating and coming together after a period of time with lockdown and Covid-19 we were also remembering the people of Ukraine.

I also point to and acknowledge the investment of over €11 million we are seeing with Omniplex Cinemas in three rural or perhaps regional towns. This investment is coming to Ballinasloe, Mullingar and Nenagh. The construction of a five-screen cinema starts today in Ballinasloe. This is causing such excitement in our area and has been very much looked forward to.

It is testament to the fact there is a demand and a need for that type of investment in our regional towns. I appreciate that people and companies are looking at how they can expand. We need to look at the fact there are people working from home and there is ever greater demand in our regional areas for this type of investment. I look forward to seeing this cinema opening in Ballinasloe in September 2022. It is going to be a fantastic new addition.

I want to comment on the news coming from the Cabinet today that the food ombudsman legislation is being moved forward, which is something we need to welcome. This House needs to be actively involved in that engagement. We spoke about having the ability to put a body in place to help the food industry, to help the farmer at the farm gate and to show there is the ability to get a fair price. It is part of the programme for Government and something we all support. I would be concerned that this is a watered-down version of the food ombudsman. The terminology of “ombudsman” has been taken out of the legislation in the heads of the Bill and we need clarity regarding whether this new body will have the teeth required to regulate this industry. We have spoken at length about farmers getting an appropriate price at the farm gate. This is the legislation we have all been talking about. It is in the programme for Government and the terminology of “food ombudsman” was in the programme for Government. Unfortunately, in the legislation published this afternoon, the heads of the Bill do not have that terminology. It is about getting the core aim of this Bill right, and that has to be a fair price for the farmers at the farm gate.