Helen Mary Jones: Thank you for that response, Minister. I know that you're highly aware of just how hard the mentrau iaith and other community groups, and Menter Cwm Gwendraeth Elli, are working, and how much they suffered last year by losing events that are so very important to them—the festivals, the community events that are hugely important to them in terms of providing opportunities to use the Welsh...
Helen Mary Jones: I wonder if the Minister agrees with me that siting really world-class healthcare facilities in our poorer communities can contribute to addressing health inequalities. And if he does agree with me in that regard, would he join me in congratulating Carmarthenshire County Council and all the other partners in the development of Pentre Awel in Llanelli, which will be sited right in the middle...
Helen Mary Jones: 3. Will the Minister outline proposals to strengthen Welsh as a community language in Mid and West Wales? OQ56486
Helen Mary Jones: As we all reflect today, Trefnydd, on the experience of lockdown and those that we've lost, will you first of all join me in congratulating the seven representatives from the Hywel Dda University Health Board who were awarded last week's High Sheriff of Dyfed awards for some of the work that they've done at this really difficult time? But may I primarily ask for a written statement from...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. Apologies—I was just waiting to be unmuted. The First Minister will be well aware of the long-term impact of the COVID closures on cultural businesses. I'm thinking of some that are partly in public ownership, like the Ffwrnes Theatre in Llanelli, but also some of our flagship institutions, like the millennium centre. Obviously, this will be a matter, ultimately, for the...
Helen Mary Jones: I'm pleased to take part in this really important debate. I will begin by doing something I don't usually do, and that is to quote the words of another person, and I'm going to quote the words of Helen, who is a nurse from Llanelli. I've known her and her work for a very long time. She has e-mailed me about a number of healthcare issues, but I want to just quote briefly some of the things she...
Helen Mary Jones: Apologies, Llywydd, I thought we'd withdrawn that request. I do apologise.
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the First Minister for his answer. Of course health boards have had to make changes in the provision of primary care. One instance in my region is that the surgery in the village of Trimsaran has had to be temporarily closed so that that is kept as a space that can be used for treating COVID patients if necessary. The community has accepted this, but they are concerned with...
Helen Mary Jones: 6. Will the First Minister make a statement on access to primary care services in Mid and West Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic? OQ56449
Helen Mary Jones: I want to begin by thanking all those who participated in this very important and far-reaching inquiry and take this opportunity to thank all who supported my work as a member of this committee just over the past year. I'm very grateful to the Chair and to my fellow Members, but most of all, to the committee staff. This was a very new field to me. They absolutely enabled me to hit the ground...
Helen Mary Jones: I'd like to ask for two statements today, Trefnydd, if I may. May I request a written statement from the education Minister on whether she would consider a Wales-wide extension on school consultations that have been taking place under pandemic circumstances? I know this is an issue for many communities in my region, in Powys particularly, and in Carmarthenshire. Following recent revision of...
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Deputy Minister for her answer. The Deputy Minister will be aware that in recent years many third sector organisations, and Connecting Youth, Children and Adults in Llanelli, in my region, being one, have been diversifying and trying to make their operations more commercial. For example, in CYCA, they've been trying to let out office space for hot desking, that kind of...
Helen Mary Jones: 5. Will the Deputy Minister make a statement on Welsh Government support for the third sector in Mid and West Wales? OQ56413
Helen Mary Jones: Will the First Minister make a statement on the restoration of planned clinical health services in hospitals in Mid and West Wales?
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful again to the Minister for his answers. Looking a little bit further forward now, we, in my party, strongly support the emphasis in the mission document on decarbonisation and, indeed, we'd like to see the Minister go further. It's going to be crucial as we rebuild our economy. But he will be aware that there are real fears that, through that process of decarbonising industry,...
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Minister for his answers. Of course, sadly and, I suppose, inevitably, we are beginning to hear of jobs being lost to Wales. The Minister will have heard what my colleague Rhun ap Iorwerth said yesterday about the 27 jobs at Joloda Hydraroll Ltd that may be transferred out of Gaerwen and Ynys Môn. He will also be aware of the 99 manufacturing jobs at risk at the AIM...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. I'd like to begin my set of questions, since this is the final set of questions that I will be asking the Minister, by once again thanking him for the constructive way in which he's engaged with me and with other opposition parties through the time of the crisis. It's certainly been greatly appreciated by me, and I feel that it has helped us to engage constructively and to...
Helen Mary Jones: Will the Counsel General make a statement on the future of the shellfish industry after leaving the European Union?
Helen Mary Jones: What I would say, though, is that we're disappointed in the plan. It's not as ambitious as we would have liked it to be, and clearly the next Welsh Government will have to do better and go further. One of the things that we would want to consider is the possibility of developing a national energy company, similar to Dŵr Cymru, our national water company, to provide people purchasing energy...
Helen Mary Jones: I'd like to thank the Minister for her statement and for the plan that was shared with us earlier today. I would like to begin with where I do agree with the Minister. She is absolutely right to make that commitment to deliver social justice, as we transition to a net-zero economy in Wales. She has my full support on that. And I would want to associate myself with her comments in her...
