Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I welcome this step that’s been taken? The principle is established in terms of this drug. It’s the practicalities that are important to the sufferers of this cancer for which this drug has been designed. So, two simple questions: when, practically speaking, will this drug be available in Wales, and how long will patients have to wait to receive a prescription to access this drug? And...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Many of us have been on a bike today as the Leonard Cheshire Disability charity invited Members to ride an exercise bike as far as we could in 100 seconds. I was pleased to top the table briefly, but that was the advantage of being the first one to take part. The charity was highlighting the importance of exercise for people with disabilities, and today...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for taking the intervention. Can you accept that it is vital to focus on what we can do and where we can try to influence? When you say that we are in a huge deficit, we in Wales are not. We have a surplus.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Formally.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Would you agree that the group of eight Conservative Members of Parliament from Wales could also hold Theresa May to ransom over this?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It’s been exciting to see the difference that Vibrant and Viable Places funding has made to the town of Holyhead, where a number of projects have taken place or are in the pipeline. But, of course, the economic problems aren’t limited to those areas that have been identified for investment through this funding to date. So, what assurance can the Minister give that other areas will be able...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I, too, welcome this update from the Cabinet Secretary on this important fund? Just a few questions from me. In terms of reference, in a way, how much do we think the introduction of the 17 new drugs has cost health boards in Wales in real terms? I assume that it’s not all being paid for from that £16 million annually, because the purpose of the fund is to enhance access to these...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: You have described how the 111 service works, and, for the record, I think it’s a good idea, and I look forward to measuring its success in future. You say the pathfinder service has been a success so far, but its success, of course, will be measured in its outcomes. You tell us that 73,000 calls were made to the ABM service between October 2016 and April 2017, but, again, it’s outcomes...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: The people of Anglesey would like an assurance that the north Wales growth deal will seek to develop the economy across all counties of north Wales, not tying the eastern counties to what’s happening in England only. There are opportunities to the west also, in Ireland, never mind the rest of Wales, and not just in the north west of England. There is a risk that Wylfa Newydd will be seen...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you be asking him to similarly join you in work on joining the north Wales economy with the south of Wales and with Ireland?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: The specific point that I put to the finance Minister earlier today. I think there’s a danger in the north-west of Wales that Wylfa is seen as the one that ticks the box. What are your thoughts on what happens if Wylfa is not deliverable for some reason—of course, that is a danger—and the danger then that the north-west has nothing planned to come out of the north Wales growth deal?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: On very similar lines:
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 7. Will the First Minister make a statement on the state of modern languages teaching in secondary schools in Wales? OAQ(5)0725(FM)[W]
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It's been a pleasure to welcome pupils from three primary schools from Anglesey to the Assembly today: Ysgol Porthaethwy; Ysgol Corn Hir, Llangefni and Parc y Bont in Llanddaniel. I was discussing learning additional languages with pupils from Parc y Bont and Corn Hir, and the pupils from Corn Hir are already being given French lessons on a weekly basis. As bilingual pupils, they were very...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I thank the Cabinet Secretary for this statement? I, too, will take this opportunity to thank Ruth Hussey and her team for the work that they have done to date, and I’m very pleased that we are in a situation now where we can hear this statement, and I’m pleased to see the coverage in the press today for this report. But the Cabinet Secretary, I think, is right in reminding us that we...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: The report on language trends was discussed at the last meeting of the cross-party group on international Wales, and, by the way, I invite everyone to a meeting next week to discuss connecting with the Welsh diaspora and hearing what GlobalWelsh and Cymru a’r Byd have to say at that point. But one specific concern raised was that the Welsh baccalaureate used to include modern foreign...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Norman and Jennifer Hutchinson, my constituents, who have very gently kept up the pressure on me to keep up the pressure, along with Julie Morgan and others here in this Chamber, on the UK Government to press ahead and help get us to this point. We’re not there yet, as Norman and Jennifer said last night to me. With the right leadership on the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I’ll begin by talking about the experience of a young person, Kelly O’Keefe from Talsarnau in Gwynedd, who is in her 20s by now but who has been suffering from arthritis from a very early age, receiving treatment in Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool—an excellent hospital, but that’s not the point in this context. Her parents had to take a day off work to take her to Liverpool, with...
