Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer; thank you for the opportunity to participate in this debate. I've raised a number of times in the virtual Chamber, and in correspondence with Government over the past few months, the need to do everything possible through the difficult days of the pandemic to ensure that people do receive support and encouragement to exercise, to access fresh...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will the Minister make a statement on the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Wales following reports that the Welsh Government’s policy is to gradually distribute vaccinations rather than to vaccinate as many people as possible in the shortest time possible? (EQ0008)
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Diolch, Weinidog. Getting vaccination right is very, very important. It is the light at the end of the tunnel, the hope so many people have been clinging to. There has to be real confidence among the population that things are on track. People waiting for the vaccine for themselves or their loved ones are being told, 'Don't call us, we'll call you.' If people are being asked to be patient,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. This morning there's been a suggestion that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation could recommend changes to the priority groups for vaccination if evidence, which is starting to emerge, demonstrates that vaccination has an impact on the transfer of the virus too—not only does it prevent people from becoming ill, but it protects those around them too. I...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: That doesn't answer my question. I wasn't asking whether you would change policy, I was asking if you had the capacity within your systems to take a new path if necessary and what preparations are being made for that. If I may move on, clearly, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine that has been favoured, because it is more flexible; it's easier to store and to transport and so on and so forth. But,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Diolch. I must say, I'm disappointed that you seem to be brushing off my questions as being hypothetical ones. I want to see Welsh Government preparing for different eventualities, because if we've learnt something of the last year, it's that this pandemic can throw all sorts of curve balls at us and we need to be preparing for different outcomes. Now, with case numbers thankfully falling, as...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Minister, a report was published yesterday that stated that one in four young persons had failed to cope with the challenges of the past 12 months. The reasons for that are quite clear, but if we are to avoid a mental health pandemic, then we must put services in place now to assist these young people. So, what investments in services are you planning?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I do look forward to hearing something on a far greater scale with far more urgency. Over a period of years in reports from Senedd committees and from other stakeholders we've seen a great deal of evidence of where we're not getting things right in Wales in terms of assisting our young people with mental health problems. One of the problems is that people who don't fit the narrow medical...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: And I applaud the work being done in Gwent too. I've been keeping an eye on the provision available there, but that provision needs to be available in all parts of Wales. And I agree entirely with you on the need to ensure availability within communities across Wales, and there's an urgency here. You will have heard me mention one-stop shops, which I and Plaid Cymru have been recommending,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I wasn't expecting this. I'd given up on the hope of contributing. I wasn't going to speak for too long in any case, but I just wanted to say that we will be voting against this motion. I had thought that it was mostly a problem with the tone of the motion, but having listened to David Rowlands, there's clearly a deeper problem than that and we...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you for the statement. May I first of all thank everyone—doctors, nurses, other vaccination workers, administrators in our health boards—who are all working so very hard to try and vaccinate our population? It's clear that the process has sped up, and we can all welcome that, but there is some way to go. In terms of this failure in hitting...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 'This includes a community pharmacy pilot'. A community pharmacy pilot.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: One—that was in the Llyn peninsula the week before last, I believe. We have over 600 community pharmacies, and we must ensure that they become part of the vaccination process as soon as possible. They want to participate. A pharmacist in my constituency in Valley contacted me over the past few days, saying, 'We want to do this, we are trained to do it, we have capacity to do it, let us do...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I will start with item 8 on international travel. We will support these regulations, as we have done every time as officials respond to the new evidence on risk levels in travelling to Wales from various nations and territories internationally. So, we will be supporting those regulations, and also supporting the regulations under item 9, which place requirements on retailers to strengthen...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Fair and free elections are the foundation of any healthy democracy, and it's about time that the people of Wales had an opportunity to give an injection of energy to this Senedd and to elect a new Government after a five-year term, which is already lengthy in comparative terms—too long in my view, but we're not here to discuss that today. It's not lightly that this Senedd is asked to...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Yes, I will. The virus has proved that it can be a master of us all, and it's still very influential in our daily lives and our democratic decisions at the moment.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Those whose jobs depend on the port of Holyhead will pay the price if changing trading patterns leads to a loss of trade permanently, shifting to direct passage. Whilst December stockpiling may be a part of the reasons for what's happened, the pandemic also, the elephant on that near-empty vehicle deck is the huge increase in trade on those direct routes. I think trade through Rosslare is up...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you to everyone who has participated in this very important debate. I would like to thank the Stroke Association for the work they have done over the last few months. The document on stroke recoveries at risk that was produced back in September is a very valuable contribution in terms of measuring the impact of the pandemic on services....
Rhun ap Iorwerth: We will be voting against the Conservative motion today. I agree with many elements of it. I do regret the slow start of the plan in Wales, although things are now speeding up. But on one specific point—. Well, (1) I don't want to take any lessons from the way in which the Government in England have dealt with the pandemic, but (2) I specifically don't think that we need a dedicated...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Laura, for the opportunity to say a few words. This is an issue that is very close to my heart. All-weather facilities are so very important. I've played and coached on 3G pitches, including playing for the Senedd on the Arms Park in Cardiff, and there's a 3G pitch in Llangefni that has enabled us as a rugby club to train youngsters through the very worst weather that Anglesey can...
