Rhun ap Iorwerth: 'in improving outcomes for service users remains unclear, with little evidence of successful projects yet being mainstreamed.'
Rhun ap Iorwerth: So, what will be different this time in order to ensure that the outcomes for patients are better? Because we can agree all day long on principles, but, unless those principles become tangibles that make a difference to patients, then there's not much purpose to them. To turn to this question as to whether this is a continuation of something that's gone before or something new, the Minister...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 8. Will the Minister make a statement on the local government settlement for Isle of Anglesey County Council for 2022-23? OQ57554
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response. The first thing I'll say is how pleased I am that the budgetary situation of the Isle of Anglesey County Council has settled so well under Plaid Cymru leadership in recent years, and the council tax is among the lowest in Wales. One area of risk that is a concern is teachers' salary. Now, in the past, the Government has assisted councils with those costs, but, as...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I thank the Conservatives for bringing forward this motion before us today. I will make some comments and mention our amendment. I certainly don't disagree with what is in the original motion, and I've certainly tried to do what I can over the years to voice my concerns about the impact of obesity. It broke my heart to see Anglesey, some years...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 'The most promising strategies are education and efforts by individuals to make responsible choices several times every day to protect, most effectively by prevention, their most valuable asset.'
Rhun ap Iorwerth: There's nothing more valuable than our own health, and somehow we have to ensure that we do invest in all of those things that are going to give the best possible start to people in their lives. Our amendment talks about resources for promoting physical activity, improving health education, more time for physical education. I welcome the pilots that are currently taking place on the school...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. I am on the record stating that we should get rid of Betsi Cadwaladr health board unless they can return to the right path, and I'm afraid that the report that we've seen now does nothing to give us confidence in the future of the health board. Last week, in responding to a question from Mabon ap Gwynfor, the First Minister more or less accused us on these benches, and...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Concerns were raised and opposition raised because we were worried about the standards of service. I could barely believe what I was reading in this report: treatment given that should not have been given, even amputation; treatment not given when it should have been given; an appalling lack of communication with patients and their families; and record keeping so poor that the royal college...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: But I fear that, sometimes, decisions are made without a deep understanding of the communities that they affect. Let's look at that principle of centralisation. I totally understand the arguments for developing centres that are able to have a bigger throughput of patients with the most serious illnesses. But (a) when we do that for rural areas, say, we have to think innovatively so as not to...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Llywydd, and I'm very pleased to have an opportunity to contribute to this important debate and to formally move our amendment. In terms of the main motion, we will support the motion today, of course. As well as being a statement of very real concern about the state of health services in general after two years of pandemic, there are elements of the motion that I...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Why does it work for Scotland and it wouldn't work for Wales?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Well, if you will take another intervention, Crown Estate Scotland has just issued leases for 25 GW—a staggering amount of offshore wind generation—because they're driven to do it because they have the ultimate gain out of that. You're driven to do it because you have the initiative and you have the powers to do it. That's why it works.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd, and thank you for all of the contributions. I will process the comments made by the Minister and return to those perhaps towards the end of my contribution here. I and my fellow Members on the Plaid Cymru benches believe in Wales. We are ambitious for Wales, and I hope that everybody in this Siambr would say that they, too, agree with that aim. But what...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: This wasn't tabled as a debate about independence. Yes, we on the Plaid Cymru benches are crystal clear in our version of an independent Wales, and our resources, the careful management of those resources for the benefit of all the people of Wales, form a big part of that. But, of course, controlling those resources as best we can, stopping exploitation, often by others outside Wales, of the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I'll immediately ask if you want to come back on this. Are you saying now that you would like to get rid of devolution because you don't like some things another party over there does? I'm not in that party either. I'd love to get rid of them out of power, but we have the power in our own hands in Wales and we have that potential, and that is what we are seeking always. Carry on.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Isn't it again revealing that when we're talking about something so fundamentally important to the future of Wales, you cannot help but take up the temptation of politicising this in that way? When we are looking at releasing our potential, you need to be a little bit more serious in your politics. The motion, as well as looking at the control that we could bring through the devolution of...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Llywydd, we as Plaid Cymru Members are very pleased to have the opportunity to put forward a debate like this one in our nation's Parliament, our Senedd. We've had an opportunity today to outline some of the fundamental issues that we believe could enable us to strengthen Wales's future foundations. But, this Senedd needs to take action, ultimately, to realise that we, as the representatives...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I'd like to ask for a statement from the Trefnydd in her role as Minister for rural affairs and agriculture. The Australian High Commissioner to the UK will be visiting Anglesey this week. I always enjoy welcoming visitors to the island, of course, but George Brandis will be meeting with farmers who will be very eager, I'm sure, to raise their concerns about the impact of a trade deal between...
