Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome two announcements over the past 24 hours. Yesterday, Cahir, County Tipperary, was announced as being the best location in Europe in which to film. It won the European Film Commissions Network's best filming location award. It is significant for Cahir and especially for Cahir Castle. Films have been produced at the beautiful setting for years, which will only increase over the next years. It attracts tourists to the region, along with the blueway and St. Declan's Way between Cashel and Ardmore, County Waterford. It is significant and I congratulate the Office of Public Works and Eleanor Morrissey, who is the site manager at Cahir Castle.

I welcome the decision by the Supreme Court to uphold the decision about building the cheese plant on the Kilkenny-Waterford border. This plant was meant to be started in 2019 and to be completed this year. It has been held up by constant objections by elements in An Taisce who, for the past number of years, have shown that they are anti-business, anti-farmer and anti-rural. I really hope that today's judgment is the final decision that needs to be made on this plant. This will be a world standard investment in the south east region. Farmers in my community in Tipperary have invested in their herd on the back of this investment. In fairness to Glanbia, it is still committed to doing this even with the increases in costs of building between when it was meant to be built and now. If there had not been as many objections, this would have been built at a much cheaper cost and would be open this year. I welcome that the company will still build the plant and will hopefully complete it by 2024. This needs to be the end to certain elements of An Taisce objecting to serious investment in my region and to farmers in my county.