Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will the Minister make a statement on primary care in the Holyhead area?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Minister, I asked you yesterday in responding to the statement on the coronavirus update what plans were in the pipeline in order to hasten vaccination or provide surge vaccination in high-infection areas, particularly where the delta variant is a cause for concern. I don't feel that I got the response I wanted to that question, so let me put it in this way: if a...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response. I think you're still missing the point somewhat. I'm asking not how we accelerate the second vaccination generally—things are going very well in terms of that—but how we can focus more supply in those areas where we need surge vaccination. And if that request is made by a health board, I hope that you, as a Government, can ensure additional supplies to them....
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I'm grateful for that positive commitment, and, for information, Anglesey is looking at introducing UVC in rooms where it's difficult to provide adequate ventilation by opening windows. Finally, this week is Carers Week, and I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute and to thank carers the length and breadth of Wales who work so hard quietly to care for loved ones and family members,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. In the words of the Minister for Climate Change, Wales needs to do twice as much to tackle climate change in the next decade as it did in the previous 30 years. Last year, the Climate Change Committee that advises UK Governments said that the absence of a clear strategy for the whole economy for 2050, at Welsh and UK Government levels, means that Wales is not on the road...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I welcome the fact that there is a Minister for Climate Change. I listened to her first interview on the BBC, and there was a great deal of talk about transport and roads, and the First Minister will know that I'm very eager to encourage a shift towards electric vehicles and so on. And that's all important, but buildings use more energy than transport.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: If we're serious about tackling climate change, we have to be serious about tackling energy use in buildings. And to cut emissions from heating in domestic premises, we have to replace fossil-fuel burning boilers and we have to invest in energy efficiency, and given that the majority of the housing stock—the vast majority of the housing stock in 2050—will be the inefficient housing stock...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It's perhaps worth looking a little closer at what you mean by 'significant sums'. I think your Government last November said you wanted, between now and 2050, to decarbonise 1.4 million homes. I think my sums, if they're right, say that's 132 homes every day for the next 29 years. Perhaps you can tell us how many Welsh homes were decarbonised last year, because from where I'm looking, it...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you to the First Minister for today's statement. It's the privilege of any new Government to set the agenda, to set the tone and the ambition at the beginning of a new parliamentary term. And I noted that the First Minister took pride in the fact that it's only six weeks since the election. I happened to look at newspapers from 10 years ago, and it was six weeks that had passed then too.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 'Finally we get a hint of a programme from the First Minister',
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Those were the words of the Western Mail at that time. And the headline was,
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 'Is that all you've got, First Minister?'
Rhun ap Iorwerth: So, perhaps I'll ask something similar in a slightly different way. As a list of valid and praiseworthy ambitions, there's a great deal that I would agree with in this programme. There are many ideas that I recognise from Plaid Cymru's recent manifesto even, and the values, the fundamental values set out, are ones that I share: principles of collaboration and co-operation not competition; a...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Llywydd, this Parliament will—. Dirprwy Lywydd, this Parliament will understand what I mean when I, as a Plaid Cymru Member, say that I fear we are currently limiting our ambitions as a nation. We have different viewpoints on the potential offered by independence. In our vision of a Wales that can build its own relationships with other nations in these islands and beyond, we look towards...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Llywydd. I will wear two hats, possibly, at this point—yes, as Plaid Cymru spokesperson on health and care, but also as joint chair, since earlier today, of a new cross-party group established here in the Senedd, which I jointly chair with the Member for Caerphilly. We could see that the scale of the problem was so great that we needed a platform within this...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: We will be supporting these regulations. We’re clearly in a place where the number of restrictions is relatively low, so now we are asking the Government to continue to push the boundaries as to what can be done in terms of lifting these restrictions, but we of course support the principle of only doing those things that we know are safe. There are two or three questions that I wish to...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. First Minister, around a year ago, you were announcing that schools were to reopen again after a long lockdown, but, of course, we know how much feeling isolated, being separated from friends has had a heavy impact on the well-being and mental health of young people. Now, throughout the pandemic, the proportion of young people waiting over four weeks for an...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: There is, of course, pressure on specialist CAMHS services during the pandemic, but this isn't a new problem. Figures that have just been published demonstrate that in August 2019 almost half of those that received a referral for specialist CAMHS services were waiting over four weeks. I think in Cardiff and Vale it was 85 per cent. But where is the response to that? We see an increase and...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: And of course we need to refer people to the right kind of support, but we can't play down the importance of specialist CAMHS services either. And there was an increase in referrals in the first four months of this year compared to last year. But the Senedd's Children, Young People and Education Committee did a lot of work on the impact of the pandemic, and in particular highlighted this...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Llywydd. I have four or five questions. First of all, following on from that final point you just made: do you have an update for us on the work that is being done in order to ensure that the booster vaccine can be provided in the autumn in accordance with what the JCVI has suggested is required? Pushing that second dose out there as quickly as possible is crucial...
