Rhun ap Iorwerth: I want to turn to testing also. We're asking people to behave in a particular way, but the Government has to get its house in order too. It was your call, of course, to depend on the lighthouse labs, instead of controlling our own capacity. The First Minister said earlier today that Wales's in-house capacity would hit 8,000 a day in a few weeks; 5,000 next week, 8,000 a week or two after...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Chair. I just wanted to make a few comments on energy, specifically the interaction or lack of interaction between the ambition for renewable energy onshore and offshore. May I say, first of all, that I'm pleased to see the revised document turn its back on the idea of allowing huge wind turbines across Anglesey? In reality, the Anglesey landscape would have made it...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd, and I'll pick up on the important questions about flu vaccination. I draw your attention to a recent study in Italy that has noted a relationship between flu vaccination rates and the severity of coronavirus symptoms and survival rates. In regions where more people over 65 had taken up the flu vaccine last year, there were fewer deaths or people having to go to hospital...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you. I'll move on. As more restrictions are imposed on people across Wales, it's very important to show that we have learned lessons from the full original lockdown. And I've seen one report that says that as many as 50 per cent of people just didn't want to see professional health workers in terms of medical conditions during that lockdown because, very simply, they didn't want to...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: But there are people though who are already in the system and who've faced a journey that's much, much longer than it would have been. And you'll have heard me make repeated calls about the need to structure services in a way that will allow treatments to resume, diagnosis services to resume, and so on, at a much faster rate than they are currently. Again this week I've heard concerns from...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Chair. I'd like to echo the thanks to the amazing work of the committee team, the clerks and the research team and so forth, who have worked so tirelessly through this period. I've been very pleased to be able to be part of this inquiry, which is ongoing, of course, and will continue for some time. It's the first report in a series, focusing on a number of specific areas. I'll go...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I am pleased that the Government has accepted recommendation 8, namely that they should assess carefully the likely demand for tests in the future and ensure that there is enough capacity to test in the future so that anyone who needs a test can access one quickly and easily. But the truth is that there is a failure to meet current demand, let alone the demand over the winter. We need to...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd, for this opportunity to address some of the challenges and opportunities facing the constituents that I represent on Anglesey and, as an important part of a wider regional economy, the challenges and opportunities that apply beyond the bridges as well. Some of them are old factors related to our location or geographical features; others are newer—consequences...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I was brought up in Anglesey. The island always had a strong hold on me, and I suppose when I met the Anglesey girl who would later become my wife, that relationship was cemented once and for all, and that's what ensured that I would also return to Anglesey to bring up my own children. And, yes, I did return, because like so many of our young people, I left—I went to university, to work, in...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Like so many energy developments, it's supported by expertise from School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University, a school with a reputation for international excellence, and a school located in Menai Bridge on Anglesey. And may I thank the Government here for a positive response to my calls for a renewed agreement with the university to secure the future for their research vessel, the Prince...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It's an issue of grave concern to me, in terms of the impact the pandemic and the restrictions are having on the well-being of young people—and people of all ages, for that matter. I hear anecdotal evidence from people working in medicine and related areas of an increase in suicide and self-harm. Will the Government as a matter of urgency gather and publish data on that so that we know what...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Minister, for the statement. Yes, we are in an unprecedented period of pressure on our budgets, and I certainly agree that a lack of clarity from the UK Government does cloud things further, and I would hope that the Conservative spokesperson would agree that we need that clarity. We in Wales must be able to make our own analysis as to whether the funding coming follows the current...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: There's a series of regulations before us again today. We will be supporting the No. 12 amendment, which is agendum 6, because we generally agree with the benefit that accrues from closing licensed premises earlier, although we feel that we could go further. We will also be supporting the No. 13 amendments, namely Llanelli, where the Government demonstrated that they were able to operate on a...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 4. What assessment has the Counsel General made of the impact of the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill on the port of Holyhead? OQ55632
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It's very important, of course, that staff and passengers are protected as appropriate steps are taken, but I do have a concern that train services in Anglesey are being struck too hard by the measures in place at present. I'm specifically referring to the fact that trains, for months now, don't stop in Valley or Llanfairpwll because the platform is too small to be able to open two doors....
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much. There's very real concern that the Bill could lead to trade being lost from Holyhead to ports in England and Scotland that go straight to Northern Ireland, and, with a third of the Holyhead-Dublin traffic going to or from Northern Ireland, that risk is very clear, and that's on top of the risk of more crossings going directly from the Republic of Ireland to continental...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Having lost Roche testing capacity early on in the pandemic, I'm pleased to hear that you're not expecting an impact on COVID testing in Wales. Now, can I just ask one question? Simply, what assurances have you had that if Roche's problems hit other services across the UK, including Wales, Wales won't be cut first or hit disproportionately?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 7. Will the First Minister provide an update on COVID-19 in Ynys Môn? OQ55699
Rhun ap Iorwerth: If we could return to testing, it's come to my attention that there have been serious problems arising with general testing in one of the south Wales health board areas, and I'd like to know what the link is between that and COVID testing. I understand that day-to-day blood testing in GP surgeries has been cancelled, and it's only emergency testing that can happen. It sounds like the kind of...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response. When Bangor went into a higher state of restrictions, one business contacted me immediately asking whether they could go into the same restrictions because of the support available to businesses with higher restrictions. But on so many levels, businesses in my constituency are suffering in the same way without those restrictions. I'm worried about the effect of...
