Rhun ap Iorwerth: There are so many things, of course, that contribute to the pressures on the ambulance service, the kinds of pressures that forced a constituent of mine to wait 24 hours for an ambulance, having broken her hip. Now, the five-point plan for health and care services, published today by Plaid Cymru in partnership with many health organisations, touches upon some of the elements that could help...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I thank the Minister for the statement? Essentially, I welcome the intention here to invest in the workforce. The health workforce is very broad indeed, it's very diverse, and comprehensive health and care services that are sustainable do have to bring together that broad range of health professionals. It's good that we are now talking about these allied health professionals, something...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 3. Will the Minister make a statement in response to 2 Sisters Food Group's announcement of a consultation on closing its site in Llangefni? TQ720
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response. It's difficult to put in words how much of a blow this would be if the factory were to close. Over 700 people are working there, at the heart of Anglesey. A high percentage live very locally, close enough to walk to work. Losing those jobs would permeate through the whole community of Llangefni and beyond, and I'm thinking about everyone who has been impacted by...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: A long list of reasons was given to me by the 2 Sisters chief executive for coming to this decision: Brexit, inflation, workforce shortages, COVID, energy prices. There were elements around the condition, the size, and the location of the factory itself too, he said. But, we can see that those overarching factors are ones directly under the control of UK Government, and we have to look to UK...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. Well, this is a debate about the relationship between the digital world and the world around us, on the interaction that happens between our use of digital technology and our concerns about climate change. Let me say right at the outset that, as chair of the cross-party group on digital, I'm eager to see us make more use of digital platforms, to improve...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: In case the message isn't clear enough: sending an A4 letter emits about 25g of carbon dioxide; an e-mail with an attachment is 50g—double—and without an attachment, 0.3g. And e-mails and attachments account for 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. So, think carefully about the content of the e-mail or the attachment, or even about sending the e-mail at all. I find the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much to everyone who's participated in this debate, which I think has been important in terms of raising awareness among people who perhaps hadn't thought about the issue before and reinforcing the fact that we, as a Senedd, are willing to take steps to try to respond to a problem that will only get worse. I recognise that the Minister has yet to be convinced that that has to...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: There are two issues at play here. It's about using digital for greening, which is really important, as has been acknowledged here. Digital is the key to everything that we need to do to improve our actions in tackling climate change, but, at the same time, it's the greening of digital that we have to pay attention to. I'll keep on looking at the options for legislation and, hopefully, a...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. A week ago, we were discussing a motion from Plaid Cymru calling for the declaration of a health crisis in Wales. Just as the Labour leader has described the situation in England as a crisis, and Labour in Scotland have described the situation as a crisis, we were eager to see Labour in Government in Wales recognise this crisis. The Labour Ministers rejected that...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It's no secret that we in Plaid Cymru believe that the first step to create the foundations for a sustainable NHS is to pay workers fairly. The First Minister recently claimed that making an improved pay offer would mean taking away money from health, but that's such a false way of looking at the situation, because providing a credible and substantive—not a one-off, but a credible and...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: The other part of this is a desperate need for Welsh Government to address the increase that we have seen in agency spending—£260 million spent on agency spending in 2022. That's not a figure just bouncing along. There's been a 40 per cent increase in a very short period of time, and that means money leaking away from the NHS into the coffers of private companies as profits. We want and...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take just a brief intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I'm sorry if it wasn't made clear that this is a plan that has been co-produced with those professional health bodies who say that Welsh Government is not taking action on these.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take another intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I'll again emphasise that we have mapped out exactly how much and from where the money would come—the £175 million that we would bring in from unallocated funds and reprioritisation. We've made it very, very clear.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Dirprwy Lywydd. Just to give us all a breather, I'll start with giving some attention to Gareth Davies's contribution, speaking as he did of Margaret Thatcher's devotion to Wales. It's only a few letters, but I'd rather remember her demolition of Wales in her time as Prime Minister. And you know what, on these benches, Labour and ourselves, we share a contempt towards the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Gladly.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: You have ensured having that on the record today. Margaret Thatcher's legacy will be on the record forever in her damage that was caused to Welsh communities. Back to Rhianon Passmore's contribution, we do share a shared ideal about the principles of the NHS, the principles around which the NHS was based, and we want, together, to protect those key principles. She was right also to say that...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Of course.
