Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you. Just a very brief intervention. Many constituents of mine have raised particular concerns about increasing energy prices. We talk about people having to make a choice between heating and eating. Does the Member agree that one problem we're likely to face more and more of is people being unable to cook or heat food because they can't afford the energy prices? And we know how...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Diolch yn fawr iawn. I've got to come in here and say I am frankly disgusted with the Conservatives' attitude in this debate this afternoon. It's the most COVID-denying, the most dismissive of the realities of the losses of the past couple of years, that I have ever heard. Are you ashamed that you're a party whose own leader rubbed our faces in it through his flagrant disregard for the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I will bring my comments to a conclusion by looking ahead. We need to adhere to the same principles that I've mentioned about doing enough but not too much. In terms of the self-isolation time: bring it down as much as possible, but only when the evidence allows that to be done safely, and I hope that that can happen soon, of course. We have to remember that we are still living in a time of...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Well, I think from my experience and from the experience of colleagues of yours, I know there has been open dialogue that you can have with advisers to Government, and we have it through health committee and so on. Plus, we were talking about a global wave and global evidence of an impending wave of a new variant that we knew nothing about, that you might think you know everything about now,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Of course.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: And that is a point I've made myself: it's important for democracy that we get things right and do things in the right order. But to argue now that what was evidenced properly at the time was wrong is a very good example of the misuse of hindsight, I think.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: We will be voting for the Government's amendment because all it does, I think, is set out the process of lifting those restrictions that has already been announced and has started to be implemented indeed. I think it's worth outlining once again the principles that I and fellow Members of Plaid Cymru have been led by over the past two years. We need those restrictions and regulations in place...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: —in terms of our response to COVID.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I'm happy to take an intervention.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I have brief comments today. It's clear that this motion is dated. It's calling for a series of things that are already happening, so we will be abstaining today. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn't it? And listening to Russell George there passing judgment on something several weeks after the evidence that was presented to us on the threats...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for the opportunity to make a brief contribution to this debate. And, firstly, let me say how much I sympathise with all those people, the many, many thousands, who have spoken about their deep concerns about the change in the cervical cancer screening regime. Screening has, of course, become a valuable part of the preventative armoury when it comes to women's health, and many, many...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response. And, yes, it would be a major step, but an important step too. And the whole point of placing it in legislation would be to ensure that the principle couldn't be ignored; one would have to act on that principle. In Wales, very promising steps have been taken—the principle of care partners in the Wales dementia action plan, for example—but there is a great gulf...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Seventy per cent of care home residents live with dementia, and social contact, particularly with family or informal carers, is very important to them in terms of keeping hold of their cognitive skills and so on. The safety measures during lockdown were crucial in terms of preventing the spread of COVID, but given the evidence, such as research by the Alzheimer's...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: The fund has been one way of helping businesses, but some businesses managed to survive by becoming part of the response to COVID. And I've written to the Minister and to the Government in the past on the need to maintain the supply chains created during the pandemic. Brodwaith in my constituency, as well as companies such as Elite Clothing Solutions, which is a social enterprise in the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I don't have very many comments to make today, truth be told. A week ago, I was calling on the Minister to give greater attention to the positive signs that I certainly thought were coming to the fore according to the statistics. She was reluctant to do that, but I understand, of course, that she was being cautious, but things were starting to look better and, indeed, things look much better...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I really am grateful to Members from across the political parties for their contributions, and the sheer range of inequalities that have been put forward by everybody highlights, doesn't it, the scale of the problem that we face. I think the seriousness of the situation is reflected in the seriousness of the contributions that we have heard today from, I'd say, almost all Members, other than...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd, and thank you, Minister, and thank you to everyone who's participated in this afternoon's debate. I don't have much time. I appreciate the Minister's thanks to us for bringing this before the virtual Senedd today, but we're not doing so because we like talking about health inequalities; we are doing this because we believe action is required on those health...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 'Meaningful progress will require coherent efforts across all sectors to close the gap.' They suggest what a strategy—the kind that we're calling for today—could look like, what a cross-Government response could look like. It should define 'health equality' and what exactly success would look like. It should provide clear, measurable targets and outcomes with a defined timescale. It...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Over the next hour, we will hear a number of examples of inequalities from my fellow Members as we try and paint a picture of the challenge that we are facing. The fact that so many different organisations have come together to push for a strategy tells us so much. And I'm grateful to many of them for their direct collaboration in preparing for today's debate. The Royal College of...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Health inequalities include many different factors. We're talking about differences in life expectancy—healthy life expectancy—and difference in access to healthcare. We're talking about the differing levels of prevalence of long-term health conditions, physical and mental, and differences between who—well, it could be along socioeconomic lines where poverty drives so many health...
