Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you to the First Minister for today's statement. It's the privilege of any new Government to set the agenda, to set the tone and the ambition at the beginning of a new parliamentary term. And I noted that the First Minister took pride in the fact that it's only six weeks since the election. I happened to look at newspapers from 10 years ago, and it was six weeks that had passed then too.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It's perhaps worth looking a little closer at what you mean by 'significant sums'. I think your Government last November said you wanted, between now and 2050, to decarbonise 1.4 million homes. I think my sums, if they're right, say that's 132 homes every day for the next 29 years. Perhaps you can tell us how many Welsh homes were decarbonised last year, because from where I'm looking, it...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I welcome the fact that there is a Minister for Climate Change. I listened to her first interview on the BBC, and there was a great deal of talk about transport and roads, and the First Minister will know that I'm very eager to encourage a shift towards electric vehicles and so on. And that's all important, but buildings use more energy than transport.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: If we're serious about tackling climate change, we have to be serious about tackling energy use in buildings. And to cut emissions from heating in domestic premises, we have to replace fossil-fuel burning boilers and we have to invest in energy efficiency, and given that the majority of the housing stock—the vast majority of the housing stock in 2050—will be the inefficient housing stock...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. In the words of the Minister for Climate Change, Wales needs to do twice as much to tackle climate change in the next decade as it did in the previous 30 years. Last year, the Climate Change Committee that advises UK Governments said that the absence of a clear strategy for the whole economy for 2050, at Welsh and UK Government levels, means that Wales is not on the road...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I'm grateful for that positive commitment, and, for information, Anglesey is looking at introducing UVC in rooms where it's difficult to provide adequate ventilation by opening windows. Finally, this week is Carers Week, and I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute and to thank carers the length and breadth of Wales who work so hard quietly to care for loved ones and family members,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response. I think you're still missing the point somewhat. I'm asking not how we accelerate the second vaccination generally—things are going very well in terms of that—but how we can focus more supply in those areas where we need surge vaccination. And if that request is made by a health board, I hope that you, as a Government, can ensure additional supplies to them....
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Minister, I asked you yesterday in responding to the statement on the coronavirus update what plans were in the pipeline in order to hasten vaccination or provide surge vaccination in high-infection areas, particularly where the delta variant is a cause for concern. I don't feel that I got the response I wanted to that question, so let me put it in this way: if a...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will the Minister make a statement on primary care in the Holyhead area?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for the statement, Minister. Clearly, the growth in the delta variant is a cause of concern, so I have three or four questions specifically in response to that. There is evidence that one dose of the vaccine is less effective in guarding against that variant. So, despite how excellent the process is going, with less than 50 per cent of the population over 16 having received two...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: You'll know that, in the recent election, I outlined Plaid Cymru's plans to ensure that care workers would also be recognised with a fair pay settlement. To us, that was part of creating a national health and care service, moving care workers onto NHS pay scales. You promised to pay care workers the real living wage. So, at the very least, let's see that implemented without delay. In that...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 'I guess we will go beyond 1 per cent.' This shouldn't be a guessing game when it comes to band 5 registered nurses on less than £25,000 a year. But, if we use again Scotland's agreed 4 per cent increase as a reference point, are you happy to say here now that nurses here won't receive a lower settlement than that?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It's your prerogative, of course, to prioritise expenditure. I believe that health and care staff are a priority, and I think that the past year has shown that. What the RCN has said is that the last year has underlined problems that already existed: work pressures, low morale and the lack of staff, of course. The Welsh Government doesn't publish figures on empty posts in terms of nursing....
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. A fortnight ago, I was wishing the First Minister well on his re-election and today I'm wishing the leader of Plaid Cymru well as he begins his period of paternity leave, and I'm sure that everyone would wish to send their best wishes to Adam and family. In March, the Royal College of Nursing said that three quarters of their members had reported an increase in...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister on her appointment? I look forward to working closely with her to try to influence as best I can the major decisions that remain to be made, of course, as the pandemic continues. It has been interesting to hear some of the comments made by Dominic Cummings today, who stated that the UK Government had made disastrous mistakes in dealing...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, and may I congratulate you on your re-election as First Minister? And I think it's very appropriate that the first question of this new parliamentary term relates to an issue that is such a crisis, and one which people are insisting on having action upon. One clear contribution to the housing crisis is the uncontrolled growth in the second homes market. I see it on a...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 1. Will the First Minister make a statement on the availability of housing in the local market in Ynys Môn? OQ56522
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I thank Mark Isherwood for the opportunity to say a few words in the last debate in the fifth Senedd, and it's a very important debate. And all I want to say is that we can't overemphasise the importance of the care that's provided in our children's hospices in Wales. And having a robust commitment from the Government to ensure support for this sector is vital. I'm looking forward, hopefully,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: There's a great deal to be welcomed in the Finance Committee's report. I would like to put on record that I'm not a member of the committee, and haven't been for some time, but I'd like to thank Llyr Gruffydd for his work in chairing the committee, and the team supporting him. I have missed being a member of that committee. Given that the 2014 Act has been operational now for five years, and...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: You have to remember that the health and care sector in Wales went into a decade of austerity off the back of decades of neglect by successive Labour and Conservative Governments in Cardiff and at Westminster. It's clear to me that health and care services in Wales were not prepared for this pandemic. Public health and the care sector in particular had been neglected. Pandemic planning, we...
