Darren Millar: Minister, we are fed up, frankly, in north Wales, of you telling us that we cannot shine a light on the terrible things that are happening in our health service in north Wales. The report today was not just disappointing, it was, frankly, alarming. It might not be alarming for you, but it's alarming for those people in my constituency who that emergency department serves. People in my...
Darren Millar: Clean air is not just about the pollution that we have from road traffic, Deputy Minister, it's also pollution from other places, such as industrial plants. The Glasdir estate in Ruthin has been plagued in recent years with poor air quality as a result of the operation of nearby combined heat and power plants by Newbridge Energy Limited. And, regretfully, just very recently, in recent days,...
Darren Millar: 6. Will the Minister provide an update on action to improve air quality in Clwyd West? OQ58045
Darren Millar: What action is the Minister taking to support service children in Wales?
Darren Millar: Diolch. Minister, thank you for your statement today. I have the fortune of representing the beautiful town or village of Llanfair Talhaearn in Clwyd West, but, unfortunately, that is a community that has experienced flooding on five occasions since 2008. On each of those occasions, there have been reports and investigations and recommendations made, including recommendations in 2012 to...
Darren Millar: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Minister, you will be aware that, in addition to the tidal sort of energy that has been talked about in south Wales, there has also been discussion about the prospect of a north Wales tidal lagoon, which could of course create up to 22,000 jobs, according to Wrexham Glyndŵr University, and generate renewable energy for up to a million homes. The scale of...
Darren Millar: We're acutely aware, Minister, of the importance of praising the good, but shining a light on the bad. We have to have honest discussions, and that means calling out when the health board is failing. And certain aspects, unfortunately, of service in north Wales are failing, and that's what you've heard referred to today. We adore the hard-working staff in our NHS in north Wales. We're...
Darren Millar: —because it's important that we do so that you can get to grips with it.
Darren Millar: Thank you.
Darren Millar: It was directly to you.
Darren Millar: Yes, I'm grateful to you for taking the intervention. It's a matter of fact that no Conservative Prime Minister has ever cut an NHS budget. The only Government in the United Kingdom that's ever cut an NHS budget is the Welsh Labour Government. It's your party, Carolyn Thomas—it's your party, Carolyn—that have actually cut the budget.
Darren Millar: I'm very sad to say that I knew very little about this terrible famine that was imposed and caused by the Soviet regime in Ukraine until fairly recently, when I took the opportunity to watch the film, Mr Jones, which very well depicted the terrible situation that people endured, the death, the misery, but also the heroic efforts of a Welshman, from Barry, using his journalism to make sure...
Darren Millar: Thank you for that response. You'll be aware that there's a great deal of concern in north Wales about these proposals for a tourism tax on the economy. Many tens of thousands of jobs across the region rely on the tourism industry and visitor spend. One of the strange things that people have suggested that the Welsh Government need to listen to is the fact that the majority of spending is...
Darren Millar: 7. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the economic impact of a tourism tax in north Wales? OQ58001
Darren Millar: What action is the Welsh Government taking to improve the performance of emergency departments in North Wales?
Darren Millar: Can I call, Trefnydd, for a statement from the First Minister on Senedd reform? Members of the Senedd will be aware, from the exchange in First Minister's questions and, indeed, from a press release issued this morning at a quarter past nine, that the First Minister and the leader of Plaid Cymru have, effectively, thwarted the work of the Special Purpose Committee on Senedd Reform that was...
Darren Millar: I was the shadow economy Minister when the then Deputy First Minister, who was responsible for the economy, Ieuan Wyn Jones, your former party leader, was responsible for the production of a manufacturing strategy, which he failed to produce in the five years that he was at the helm. Do you regret the former Deputy First Minister not producing a manufacturing strategy, which would be having...
Darren Millar: I'm so sorry to make another intervention so soon, but I'd like say something about the community facilities programme. Can I commend the Welsh Government for that programme? It's seen significant investment in many community facilities in my own patch, including places of worship, which have been adapted and are now the hubs of their community, as they always have been, but now with much...
Darren Millar: Will you take an intervention?
Darren Millar: Of course, that wasn't the only thing that the UK Government did to support people with the cost-of-living situation. They also gave a £150 council tax discount to homes, albeit in England. You got a consequential. You could go 20 per cent further than that here in Wales because, of course, for every £1 that is spent on a devolved service in England, Wales has £1.20 to spend here. Why...
