Rhun ap Iorwerth: Ie wrth gwrs.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I’m pleased that the Government has given a commitment to develop a business plan on the dualling of the Britannia bridge. We’re expecting some developments there soon, I believe. But that is a project that we could have expected to have made a bid for European funding for, as a contribution towards its cost, because of the importance of the A55 as...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much for giving way. Just in response to some of your comments on tolerance, do you align yourself with the ‘breaking point’ poster?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Would the First Minister agree with me that, at present, there is a lack of status in being a GP, and that that includes the external image of the nature of the job, and also within the profession? Would the First Minister agree with me that, as part of the contribution to tackling the recruitment issue, we could look at issues such as ensuring that students at 16 and 17 years old are...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. May I thank everybody who’s taken part in this debate this afternoon? I agree with the Minister that it has been a debate that has constructive on the whole. I’m not sure why Suzy Davies, on behalf of the Conservatives, feels so prickly today. Certainly, there’s nothing from me that places barriers for collaboration with other parties for...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Presiding Officer, thank you for the opportunity to open this debate on a motion tabled in the name of Simon Thomas. This is a debate calling on the Assembly to note the demographic challenges facing the NHS in Wales and calling on the Welsh Government to respond now to those challenges, including moving towards integrating health and social care, as well as taking urgent action with a series...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you. The team around the family is one of the five main elements of the Families First programme. A constituent came to see me to share her concern that this service in Anglesey was to cease from March 2017. She was high in her praise for the support that she received from the team locally because of the mental health problems suffered by her daughter and the impact that had on the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you. It was good to see the NFU here in the Senedd today outlining their vision for the industry. But, what the NFU, like farmers across Wales, are looking for is not simply warm words of support from Government, but action too. Now, there was a pledge made by the previous Minister that the new rural development plan could be transformational in terms of the rural economy and the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 7. Will the Minister provide an update on the rural development plan? OAQ(5)0012(ERA)[W]
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 11. Will the Minister make a statement on Families First funding? OAQ(5)0007(CC)[W]
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you for the statement. This is a very important survey. I appreciate that we’re only discussing the headlines today and I’m looking forward to a fuller analysis in due course. There are positive signs here on the percentage that smoke, for example, with reduction continuing, but, of course, with a long way to go. I do support the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Just a few words from me and a question, as one who was an employee with the BBC for 20 years, and that’s just to remind us of what our broadcasters should be providing to the Welsh audience. S4C, of course, carries out two jobs in a way. First of all, it broadcasts through the medium of Welsh to an audience that wants to view Welsh language programming, but, in so doing, it broadcasts...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It’s not unusual for a GP to fail to diagnose the symptoms of cancer during the first appointment. But, if a diagnosis is ultimately made following a second or third appointment, does the First Minister agree that the clock should start ticking, in terms of when treatment should start, from the time of that first appointment, because swift treatment for patients is the most important thing,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Are you going to mention Wales at all in your speech, or are you just betraying the fact that you are just using Wales as a vehicle to push your own agenda?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: But there are innovative steps that could be taken. Last week, Cancer Research published a report on the next steps that they would want to see taken for a cancer strategy for Wales. They are asking for the introduction of a specific target of 28 days so that we can improve survival rates and, through that, they are adding to the chorus of authoritative voices supporting our policy, as Plaid...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: What the improvement does demonstrate, of course, is that effort pays off and that we should never accept that budgetary limitations or increases in demand will inevitably lead to longer waiting times. As I said, MRI scans were given some press coverage a few years ago; there are other diagnostic tests that aren’t as headline grabbing, perhaps, where there are major problems that remain,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. Two years ago, Plaid Cymru highlighted the frighteningly long waiting times for MRI scans in Wales as compared to Scotland and England, with over 40 per cent of patients at that time waiting over six weeks here, as compared to 1 per cent in England and 2 per cent in Scotland. Following on from that and some press coverage of the issue, you did make an effort to tackle the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: The Minister will know that I have been consistently pressing for investment in a third crossing, or dualling the Britannia, however you want to see it. I was very grateful to see the Government agreeing to proceed with the business study recently, and I’m sure that the plans will be brought forward in due course. Today, National Grid have announced their latest proposals on transferring...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 8. Will the Minister provide an update on the Menai crossing development? OAQ(5)0006(EI)[W]
