Mabon ap Gwynfor: Minister, 10 years ago, a constituent of mine saw a decline in mental health, which meant that he had to go for specialist care. He was prescribed anti-depressants and anti-psychotic drugs, and he's been using them since that time. Despite that, he hasn't had a review of that medication since that very early period, over 10 years ago. He went for a review to the local hospital but he was told...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Minister, I think you and the Government are being slightly unfair in saying that no-one knew what was to come at the beginning of last year and that it's easy to use hindsight, as the First Minister mentioned earlier. I think we all saw the pictures coming from Italy at the beginning of the year, and from China too, and everyone had a pretty good idea of...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: 10. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the impact of nitrate vulnerable zones? OQ57004
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you, Minister. The NVZs in Wales limit agriculturalists to spread no more than 170 kg of nitrates per hectare, whilst the zones in other nations enable farmers to spread up to 250 kg per hectare. This limitation means that slurry is held back and can't be spread and causes difficulties to farmers, or it will do so. Can you explain, therefore, what the rationale of the Welsh Government...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: 2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the role of teaching assistants in schools? OQ57082
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you for that response, First Minister. Well, teaching assistants are a crucial part of the education workforce of our nation. They prepare lessons for pupils, they take groups out to learn outdoors, provide one-to-one attention for pupils with additional needs, take lessons when teachers aren't available, among other things. As a former governor for many years, I saw the value of their...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: 4. Will the Minister make a statement on the provision of sexual assault referral centres? OQ57059
Mabon ap Gwynfor: 6. What assessment has the Welsh Government has the made of the extent to which the UK Government's legislative programme touches on devolved areas? OQ57065
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Does the Welsh Government intend to legislate to change the voting system for Senedd elections?
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you very much, and I'm particularly grateful that you answered through the medium of Welsh. These sexual assault referral centres provide a very important service to vulnerable people who clearly have gone through appalling experiences. Now, when one looks at sexual assault statistics, there isn't much difference between the number of sexual assaults for every 1,000 of the population in...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you for that response. As you know, there's been a substantial increase in the number of LCMs this term. These laws won't be made bilingually, they won't be accessible and, even worse, they won't be fully scrutinised by this Senedd. So, what discussions have you had with the UK Government and your fellow Ministers here to ensure that this increase in LCMs doesn't continue?
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I appreciate the fact that you've allowed this question. Thank you very much to the Deputy Minister for the statement. It's only now that I see the maps, but what's striking is the lack of investment and the absence of anything in our rural areas once again. Now, I understand that the maps are looking at trains, but people in rural areas are...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you very much. Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri—Snowdonia National Park—was established 70 years ago this week. Eryri was one of the first four national parks established in this state, back in 1951. The national park authority's aim is to protect and nurture natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage in the area, and to promote opportunities to understand and enjoy its unique, special...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Will the Member take an intervention?
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Dwyfor Meironnydd has a very proud history in such company with Antur Aelhaearn, for example, but do you agree with me that co-operatives do put the welfare of the workers and the community that they serve at the forefront, and ensure that more of the funding from the co-operative companies stays in the local economy, and that it stands to reason, therefore, that we should support and promote...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Will you as agricultural Minister, or even the economy Minister, bring a statement before us on the steps that you are taking to tackle the increasing habit of large multinational companies buying our agricultural land in Wales in order to use it to plant trees and thereby offset the carbon emissions of those companies, so that they can continue with the polluting practices of their...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you, Minister. Well, I'm expressing the views of constituents here, and many others, in saying that they've totally lost track of your strategy in dealing with coronavirus, I'm sorry to say. You introduced the COVID pass and, in the debate in this place some weeks ago, all the debate centred around the need for a COVID pass because of nightclubs, and that young people were going to...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: I welcome the ambition that's been referred to here this afternoon. Let us hope that it doesn't suffer the same fate as the ambition that your Government had of eradicating child poverty in Wales. Time will tell, of course. Forgive my cynicism; every time I hear the Government here announcing things on climate change and talking about difficult decisions and the need for everyone to pull...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: A final question, therefore. If we do want to see the alleviation of climate change and real things happening in our rural communities, then that has to go hand in hand with investment in public transport for our communities, and, more than that, in public services in our communities. It's fine for you to ask some octogenarian in Llanbedr to ride a bike some four miles to the nearest surgery...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: 3. What assessment has the Government made of the contribution of rail freight to the Welsh economy? OQ57116
