Helen Mary Jones: I know the First Minister will be aware, from the research that he's mentioned, of the disproportional impact of COVID economically on women, and particularly single-parent families, which tend to be led by women. The £500 payment that's available to people on low incomes who are self-isolating is very welcome and we know it's making a big difference and enabling people to self-isolate. But,...
Helen Mary Jones: I thank the Deputy Minister for his statement and, obviously, for the advance copy. I'd like to begin my comments by just saying that I think the Welsh Government is to be commended to be looking forward at a time when so much energy is concentrated on dealing with the here and now. I think we can all be very glad that this work has been able to be progressed, faced with the big pressures...
Helen Mary Jones: I just want to begin by saying that nobody doubts for a moment the depth of the First Minister's concern and his absolute sincerity in what he is saying today, but I would put it to the First Minister that, of course, action needed to be taken, but did it have to be this action? And, for many people, this just feels too hard, especially for people whose support networks are their friends, not...
Helen Mary Jones: I'm hearing some real concerns about some staffing difficulties in hospitals in my region, including Prince Philip Hospital and particular problems in Glangwili in Carmarthen. I'm told—and this is anecdotal, Minister, so I can't be sure that this is the case—that there are nurses and doctors becoming ill with coronavirus and members of the public concerned as to whether they're...
Helen Mary Jones: 7. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of mental health provision in Llanelli? OQ55977
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Minister for her answer. Dyfed-Powys police and crime commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn recently held a very successful community safety participatory budgeting event, inviting people from the community to prioritise funding for community projects to promote community safety. I'm very pleased to say that Mind Cymru—who happen to be my next-door neighbours, next to my office...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to present this report from the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee on the impact of the pandemic on journalism and on local media. I'd like to begin, of course, by giving my thanks to my fellow committee members, to our wonderful team of staff and to all of those witnesses who gave both oral and written evidence. I'm sure we would...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and I'm grateful to all Members who have contributed to this debate. I think the breadth of the discussion shows how important these issues are to Members across the Chamber and not only to Members of our committee. I, of course, don't have time to respond to everybody's comments, but I will try and pick up on some of the main ones. I think David Melding's comments...
Helen Mary Jones: I wasn't a member of the committee when evidence was taken for this report, so I've really enjoyed reading the work and discussing informally with colleagues, and it certainly is an impressive piece of work, challenging Welsh Government where it needs to be challenged, but supporting it too where the committee felt that they were heading in the right direction. I don't want to repeat comments...
Helen Mary Jones: I think we must remember the huge importance of the food and drink industry now here in Wales. And just to give a couple of examples, the industry as it stands—and we could, of course, do so much more—has a £22.1 billion turnover and employs 229,000 workers directly, and there is a bit of a tendency, sometimes, to think that all of those are not good-quality jobs and that that's not a...
Helen Mary Jones: The COVID crisis has shown us all, I think, how important local food supply can be, and how the current industrial food system is failing. It's failing producers, it's failing processors and it's failing those of us who eat and drink the food. There have been many stories, Llywydd, around the time of COVID, that have been heartbreaking for all of us, but one that really upset me was taking a...
Helen Mary Jones: Delyth Jewell.
Helen Mary Jones: Sorry, Llywydd.
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you very much. I'd like to expand, with the Minister, on some of the issues around hospitality and to begin by saying that we on these benches are clear, with Welsh Government, that public health and public safety is paramount. We do understand that and we share the Government's concerns about the rise of COVID. But I am struggling, Dirprwy Lywydd, to explain to...
Helen Mary Jones: —and they would, of course, provide a lifeline to some businesses.
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Minister for his answer. I'm sure that none of us envies the Government the decisions that they have to make. I was pleased to hear the Minister, in his response to Russell George, refer to the supply chain businesses. And he will be aware, for example, of the challenges to Castell Howell, a supply business based in Crosshands, that depends, for 70 per cent of their...
Helen Mary Jones: I think the Minister is right to delay publishing the reconstruction and the redevelopment plans and to concentrate, at the moment, on the crisis. But, as we move towards that phase, I wonder if the Minister agrees with me that the disappointing decision made public by Ineos yesterday demonstrates to us that we really need to refocus our support to business on local businesses to enable our...
Helen Mary Jones: 4. What discussions has the Minister had regarding the future of Trostre steelworks in Llanelli? OQ56005
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Minister for his answer. When we discuss the steel industry in Wales, we tend to focus on Port Talbot, and, obviously, that's vitally important. But can I ask the Minister to give the citizens of Llanelli and the workers at Trostre his personal assurance that when he is having these discussions—and I'm so glad to hear that he is—he will remember that it isn't just Port...
Helen Mary Jones: I wish to speak primarily to our amendments 11, 12 and 13, and I'll start, if I may, with amendment 12. It seems to us that there is as much reason to be concerned about the spread of the virus in people's homes if large quantities of alcohol are consumed, if not more, than there is to be concerned about the spread of the virus in hospitality settings. Nobody wants, I'm sure, a...
