Rhun ap Iorwerth: Formally.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I welcome the announcement, but I should add that to say it’s been a long time coming would be something of an understatement. I’ll get straight into a number of questions. A £350 million centre is worthless without the skilled staff necessary to work in it. I should ask: is the Cabinet Secretary sure that recruitment won’t be a problem? I guess what answer I will be given, but a...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I welcome the statement by the Cabinet Secretary? I’m also grateful for the collaboration that has been going on since the agreement after the election, as we’ve put meat on the bones with regards to what Plaid Cymru had offered to have a parliamentary review as part of that agreement. May I note here that I wish this new team well under the leadership of Dr Ruth Hussey? I look...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take another intervention? We, of course, would have supported lowering the voting age to 16, but do you accept that had that have happened, the result might well have been very different?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m very pleased to have the opportunity to take part in this debate. It’s slightly strange that the debate is happening during the opposition debate, because we’re talking about something that’s far beyond party politics. And that’s why I’ve been very happy to be one of those who signed this motion on a cross-party basis. I feel very...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I want to speak briefly about how effective local authorities in Wales are vital to maintaining health services through their work in social care. Good social care services are vital, of course, in helping to keep people out of hospitals or, if they need to receive treatment in hospitals, in allowing for them to be released from hospitals promptly. Unfortunately, social care has...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Formally.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response. We should celebrate, of course, the thousands of connections that have been made under the Superfast Cymru programme, but underneath those positives, of course, there are communities the length and breadth of Wales that cannot access broadband. I can tell you about the Brynsiencyn area where the famous Halen Môn company still can’t access superfast broadband. I...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 6. Will the First Minister make a statement on the steps taken when it is decided that a community cannot be connected under the Superfast Cymru programme? OAQ(5)0221(FM)[W]
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Very briefly, as the chair of the CPA Assembly branch, I’d like to pay tribute to Joyce Watson for the work that she did as chair during the fourth Assembly. That was a period when the branch did hold the regional British isles and Mediterranean region conference here in the Senedd in 2014. The theme of that conference was fair access to democracy, and promoting the important role that...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, and may I thank everyone who has taken part in the constructive discussion this afternoon for the contributions from across the Chamber? We’ve heard very powerful accounts. I’ll name Bethan Jenkins as one who brought the experiences of one constituent to our attention as part of this discussion in a very powerful way. Felly, diolch i chi am eich holl gyfraniadau. Nid...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am pleased to be able to put forward this motion. I look forward to the discussion this afternoon in a week where we’ve been marking World Mental Health Day. In general terms, I think there are two kinds of discussions that we have when we talk about mental health: first of all, how the health service responds to people who do need treatment. Very often, we...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I’ll refer too to the Government amendment. In the current political climate, I don’t think we can trust the UK Government not to withdraw safeguards from people who are vulnerable in the workplace. There are signs, aren’t there, that the Equality Act 2010 is on the radar of the Government, following the vote to leave the European Union. So, we think that it would be irresponsible for...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. I’m very pleased to have the opportunity to have supported this motion and to support the other Members who have spoken so enthusiastically this afternoon on the need to promote physical activity and to ensure that the appropriate infrastructure is in place in terms of active travel, in order to ensure that that can happen within our communities as part of our daily...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: The Cabinet Secretary will be aware of the decision by National Grid to place cables in a tunnel under the Menai strait. We hope to see a new bridge constructed to go with the Britannia bridge. I’m sure that the Cabinet Secretary would agree with me that there would be less environmental impact in placing those cables on that bridge, rather than actually building a bridge and digging a...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 9. Will the Minister make a statement on the environmental impact of the National Grid’s plans across Ynys Môn? OAQ(5)0050(ERA)[W]
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. May I thank you for the statement and for the strategic plan that was published yesterday? I do recognise, certainly, the steps forward that have taken place since the launch of the plan in 2012, but the Cabinet Secretary himself has acknowledged just how much remains to be done, and I do look forward to the debate tomorrow afternoon in the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: In my constituency of Anglesey, the question of borders with Ireland is one of the most crucial questions in terms of the debate on leaving the European Union. If a border is to be placed around the isle of Ireland, as is suggested—and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has said that he wants to strengthen border controls in the ports and airports of Ireland—then what’s the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 9. Will the First Minister make a statement on trade between Wales and Ireland? OAQ(4)0204(FM)[W]
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you. I have a question about the need for broadband providers to ensure that those who require a high standard of broadband connectivity for telemedicine needs actually receive it. I know of a community on Ynys Môn—a whole community—that are without superfast broadband. Within that community there is a family where the husband has had a diagnosis of spinocerebellar ataxia 6, which...
