I welcome visitors from Dublin College Sallynoggin who are here in both galleries today as guests of Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett. I also welcome H.E. Bernardo Guanche Hernández, the Cuban ambassador to Ireland, who is accompanied by Marie Barry. They are here with Senator Andrews and they are very welcome. I hope the ambassador enjoys his visit to Leinster House.

I welcome the ambassador and Marie Barry, a great colleague and friend of mine in former years It is great to see her here. I did not recognise her. It is particularly great to see her and all our guests, including those from Dublin College Sallynoggin.

Previous speakers have spoken about Saint Patrick's Day and what a great festival and great celebration of our culture, our heritage and indeed our enterprise it is. I and other colleagues were over at a showcase in Tesco Ireland for artisan food, meat and other products in the UK. Tesco Ireland was principally involved organising this in conjunction with Bord Bia. It was a very proud moment for those of us who attended.

We met ten suppliers who had been chosen to exhibit in a showcase in the UK: Golden Bake; Flahavan's; Ornua; Portumna Pastry; Killowen yoghurts and dairy produce; Keohane Seafoods; Coole Swan liqueur; Silver Pail ice cream; Folláin jams, with which we are familiar; and of course ABP Meats. All of those who attended the showcase were there to look at and test the food and to see how Tesco is promoting Irish produce. It is a proud day for Ireland that the market has been expanded with the help and assistance of Tesco. I give a shout-out to Tesco and to Bord Bia for opening the door for small enterprises that will now be selling their wares on shelves right across the United Kingdom. That is some achievement, and with it comes more investment, more upskilling and more money for their plants, etc. Rising the market brings many challenges.

I would like at some point to have the Minister of State, Deputy Grealish, in to talk about the Irish food sector and the potential, particularly in the UK. I would also like to single out and thank our excellent Irish ambassador, Martin Fraser. We met him during the trip. He is a wonderful ambassador. He is not going to be staying much longer with us. He is going to other fields in the same service. I thank him for an amazing job in assisting us and supporting the expansion of all things cultural and in enterprise, particularly in the UK market. I also acknowledge the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan. Many other Irish people gathered in Westminster for the annual St. Patrick's Day celebrations there. We were so warmly welcomed and received. We can talk about the Taoiseach in America, but I think it is unbelievable that despite Brexit and everything else we continue to have amazing commercial ties and connections in the UK, our closest neighbour. I have a sense that they are even stronger than they were two or three years ago. The potential for economic development between our two countries is critically important. We have a long history in terms of our diaspora going to the UK but I believe there is further room for growth. I went away feeling inspired about enterprise. I refer not only to the partnership with Tesco, but also to other potential food development. I thank our ambassador for the enormous work he is doing on the ground in London.

I welcome the Cuban ambassador. It is important that he is here in our Parliament. These are worrying times for Cuba and the Cuban people. Indeed, they are worrying times for the entire world with what is happening. It is important that Ireland stands with and supports the Cuban people at a time when they are facing horrendous terror, in effect. The Cuban people were good to Ireland and it is time for Ireland to be good to Cuba. I also acknowledge the very recent passing of Eleanor Lanigan, whom people will have known from Leinster House. Eleanor was a great advocate and campaigner for human rights and for Cuba. I want to acknowledge that.

Some €581 million will be spent by Dublin City Council to move the civic offices from Wood Quay to Camden Yard. The reality is that the Government and Dublin City Council have no problem finding money when they want to. They have no problem finding the money for new shiny well-insulated offices, but for residents living in tiny flats with damp and mould, and for residents living in substandard flats and houses, the rent just gets higher and higher. There are still no improvements. There is no sense there are going to be any improvements in maintenance. The residents in flat complexes have no prospect of seeing better insulation in their homes. The plans for the regeneration of Pearse House were cancelled because the Government said it could not find the money; it could not afford it. Suddenly, from down the back of the couch, the Government has pulled out the necessary money to support the council's move to Camden Yard. Given that it has been possible for the Government to find money for new shiny offices for Dublin City Council at Camden Yard, it seems that the money from the cancelled Pearse House regeneration and the money from the new rent increases for tenants in Dublin City Council housing will pay for those new offices.

Residents of Oliver Bond House, Countess Markievicz House and Mercer House all have to live with dampness and mould and pay more for the privilege to do so. Effectively, the Government is saying to residents that they can put up with leaks and sewage overflowing in their homes, but it is going to spend the money on new offices. That is hurtful and unfair. Of course everybody welcomes the new homes that will come with this development but why forget about the old homes for families who have been trying to survive in substandard conditions? Regeneration should be for everyone, not only for the council with its new office plans. Regeneration should be for families who believed in this city before everyone left or was pushed out into the suburbs. The money is there and the Government and the council need to regenerate the flat complexes across the city. Countess Markievicz House, Vincent Street and Rathmines Avenue all need regeneration now. The money is there but the Government is choosing not to invest it in flat complexes.

Before I move on to our next speaker, I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, a former Member of this House and his guests from the Dungarvan and West Waterford Chamber of Commerce. You are very welcome and I hope you enjoy your visit to Leinster House today.