Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thanks for all your contributions, starting with Russell George starting in a measured way, paying tribute to our health workers. But the issue here is this isn't about showing commitment, warm words towards the workforce; this is about paying them properly. And I will stand shoulder by shoulder with the health Minister in criticising UK Government for its actions in terms of its...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Dirprwy Lywydd. We've thanked them; we've clapped for them; we've come to appreciate them perhaps more than ever over the past 18 months. But after sacrificing so much, our NHS health and care workers across Wales deserve now to be properly and fairly rewarded through their pay. The least we think Welsh Government could do is stand alongside healthcare workers in Wales...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. I want to take this opportunity to urge the Government and the Minister here to raise their game, to show greater urgency in their response to the mental health crisis that we are facing at the moment. And the Minister, herself, is one, I know, who feels passionately about mental health. That's why she is in post. But that passion now needs to translate...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for taking an intervention. I just want to say in this intervention: I agree with everything pretty much that you've said. And that is where this falls down; we're not talking about the principles of what you have been portraying. I have children myself at university; I want to make sure that they're safe. Our argument today is that these particular regulations and the proposal by...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Llywydd, we have given these regulations the careful consideration they deserve and, in coming to the conclusion that they have to be rejected as they are, I emphasise that we are still willing to look at the evidence, to read detailed action plans and guidance. But, given that we don't have those today, we are voting the way that we believe is right in the hope that a more robust proposal...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: A few words on matters of principle, first of all, in principle, and I think this is something that we in Plaid Cymru have shown time and time again during the course of the pandemic, we have been ready to support the introduction of a range of measures to control and limit the transmission of the virus. Indeed, we've been encouraging the implementation of such measures, and it's been true in...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: We're talking about serious, deep-rooted issues affecting patient safety, resulting in tragic losses of life. We're also talking about impacts on hard-working front-line staff, desperately worried about the care they can offer due to problems with underinvestment and under-resourcing. Responsibility, finally, must be accepted and acted upon for the years of failings in mental health care in...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I thank Llyr for bringing this issue before us today and, indeed, for his work in this area over a period of years. Let me speak quite openly: the Betsi Cadwaladr health board is still facing very grave problems with its mental health services. The Hergest unit is still facing very serious questions around patient safety. And, yes, it was too soon to bring the board out of special measures....
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Yes, the picture is worrying across Wales, and has been throughout the pandemic, but in Holyhead there's been a significant problem after two surgeries had to be placed in the hands of the health board in 2019, and that, I'm afraid, was because of failures in ensuring a sustainable workforce over a period of many years. I think the success of Plaid Cymru in helping to establish a medical...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I am pleased that you said that it came as a shock to you to see us so far behind. I see your predecessor sitting very quietly next to you there, and the health Minister before him was the current First Minster, of course. But, throughout this pandemic, we have seen how services can move quickly and introduce change quickly, when the leadership and the political will are there. We can create...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response. I don't believe a word of that explanation for the delay, and I don't believe the Minister herself believes that explanation either. It's 15 years since the Government published its first strategy on e-prescribing. If it's another five years, 20 years will have passed, and, in the meantime, England and Scotland have been able to hold people's hands or whatever...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. I got slightly excited last week when I heard that the Government was to make an announcement on e-prescribing. At last, I said, given that we're only 21 years into the twenty-first century. But my heart sank when I saw that what the Government was announcing was that e-prescribing would be introduced within five years. Why is the Government so determined to move...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much for that response. I was pleased to hear a reference to offshore wind energy. There's a very real economic opportunity for Ynys Môn from proposed BP developments in the Irish sea—the Mona and Morgan windfarms. I'm very eager to ensure that Holyhead will be the port to service the Mona development. It would create jobs and provide long-term assurances. But we also need...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 3. What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Climate Change regarding attracting green energy investment to Ynys Môn? OQ56913
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 6. Will the Minister make a statement on access to GPs in Holyhead? OQ56912
Rhun ap Iorwerth: We will be supporting this motion today. This isn't a party political matter, of course. I've worked on joint statements with Labour and Conservative Members in the past on this issue, and what is in front of us today is sensible and asks for basic and practical steps to be taken to save lives across Wales. It's a campaign I've been a part of myself. It's relevant to all of us. Whilst the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. Yes, there are things that haven't been decided yet. Vaccine passports are one of those things. I think that the Welsh Government is correct to keep the option open. I note that Sajid Javid in Westminster today has confirmed that the Conservative UK Government will keep this as an option for plan B for the winter. So, a difference of opinion between the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I'm pleased, if I may comment on what we heard from the leader of the Conservative Party—. I'm pleased that you weren't pushing for an immediate lifting of mandation on masks, as some members of the Conservative Party have been calling for that and asking for it to be made a matter of public choice, which would be fine if masks only protected ourselves. But their primary purpose, of course,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, First Minister. I was going to start by thanking you for making this statement in the Senedd—all of the statements of the previous year should have been made in the Senedd—but I read now that some of this was released on social media. But we are closer to have had the statement made in the Senedd, where it should have been made. Thank you for sharing your assessment of the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I request a written statement as a matter of urgency on borders infrastructure in the port of Holyhead? There are parts of the infrastructure that are the responsibility of the Welsh Government and parts that are the responsibility of the UK Government, through HMRC. I've had enough of the lack of transparency and communication from HMRC. We now hear that they have purchased the Roadking...
