Rhun ap Iorwerth: When metastatic breast cancer patients tell us they feel let down, we have to recognise that they are being let down, and I want to pay tribute to Tassia and all those who campaign on behalf of patients past and present. But the key thing to remember here is that there will be future patients too, and it's because of them that the campaigners campaign. That is why they petition. That is why...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will the First Minister make a statement on the barriers to access to primary care?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for the statement. I'm eager to confirm the strong support of these benches to vaccination programmes in general and their contribution to the nation's health. In a way, it's strange, whilst welcoming the new framework, that we didn't have a framework previously, because vaccination is such an important a part of the health landscape in Wales. But, we have been through a period...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for the statement. I have to tell the Minister that this is far more than an inconvenience, and I also have to say that the situation is far more serious than the way the Conservative spokesperson dealt with it. I think there are three fundamental questions. First of all, the priority: what steps are being taken to respond to this, to keep traffic flowing, to mitigate risk?...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 'I had just / Completed my design / To keep the Menai bridge from rust / By boiling it in wine.'
Rhun ap Iorwerth: That's not how you do it. But was the maintenance done, the painting and so on, robust enough? Certainly, I've seen rust. More than usual? I don't know; I'm not an engineer. But was the Welsh Government sufficiently monitoring how UK Highways was carrying out its work? And is it the job of UK Highways to identify problems earlier—a preventative maintenance schedule—or to respond to...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd, and I thank the Conservatives for bringing this subject before us today. I'm not sure about the motion in its entirety. We'll come to that in due course, but in terms of the central point, what we have in clauses 1 and 2 in the motion, yes, it is World Stroke Day on Saturday 29 October, and it's important to take every possible opportunity to remind ourselves of...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I think they have, haven't they?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: As the Member for Ynys Môn, I could pursue many elements of that very broad-ranging statement. I retain my particular interest in hydrogen, after having led that debate on hydrogen here some two and a half years ago. I understand the interest in HyNet in the north-east, but I would encourage the Minister to keep an eye on and develop the Irish Sea connection—Pembrokeshire, Anglesey, along...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: —relating to solar. The Minister might not be aware of a scheme called Solar Together on Merseyside. It's a group buying—a sort of bulk buying scheme, encouraging communities to buy solar panels together, in order to bring prices down to encourage investment. Is that something that could be considered in Wales?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 8. Will the Minister provide an update on recent discussions with the UK Government about modern slavery? OQ58666
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response. The Minister will know, I'm sure, that the UK Government has moved modern slavery recently from the Minister for safeguarding to an issue at the bottom of the list of the Minister for illegal immigration and asylum. A constituent has contacted me to voice concerns about this. She's concerned about the risk that it means for victims of slavery. She questions...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Can I first of all register my support for all RCN members and the way they voted? Nobody wants to see industrial action taking place, and that includes, more than everyone, the nurses themselves. But the fact that this ballot took place in the first place tells us all we need to know about how nurses feel. Now, in driving a decade and more of public service cuts and real-time cuts to nurses'...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will the First Minister make a statement on the discharge of sewage into the sea off the Anglesey coast?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on the economic impact of closing the Menai bridge? OQ58714
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much. I have kept in close contact—as close as possible—with businesses, and the whole community of course, since the decision was taken to close the bridge. They all want assurances that everything will be done to reopen the bridge as soon as possible. I would welcome any news from the Minister on that and the work to reopen early in the new year. But, in terms of the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: That point with regard to clarity is very important, I think, from the Minister. I also noted the statement by Rolls-Royce with regard to Trawsfynydd and Wylfa too. I happen to be excited about the renewable schemes, marine schemes, off Anglesey, and I also think that SMR nuclear technology is more suited to Ynys Môn than large-scale nuclear schemes. I tried to get a Wylfa newydd scheme...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Llywydd. Can the Minister explain why she's refusing to engage in pay negotiations with the Royal College of Nursing?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Yes, you are.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: The Minister knows that's not pay negotiations. She also said last week that she was meeting regularly with the Royal College of Nursing—that's not pay negotiations. The meeting that she has just referred to now is not pay negotiations. The last letter, I believe, that the Royal College of Nursing wrote to the Minister asking for pay negotiations was on 25 October. They still have not...
