Rhun ap Iorwerth: There are two issues at play here. It's about using digital for greening, which is really important, as has been acknowledged here. Digital is the key to everything that we need to do to improve our actions in tackling climate change, but, at the same time, it's the greening of digital that we have to pay attention to. I'll keep on looking at the options for legislation and, hopefully, a...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much to everyone who's participated in this debate, which I think has been important in terms of raising awareness among people who perhaps hadn't thought about the issue before and reinforcing the fact that we, as a Senedd, are willing to take steps to try to respond to a problem that will only get worse. I recognise that the Minister has yet to be convinced that that has to...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: In case the message isn't clear enough: sending an A4 letter emits about 25g of carbon dioxide; an e-mail with an attachment is 50g—double—and without an attachment, 0.3g. And e-mails and attachments account for 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. So, think carefully about the content of the e-mail or the attachment, or even about sending the e-mail at all. I find the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. Well, this is a debate about the relationship between the digital world and the world around us, on the interaction that happens between our use of digital technology and our concerns about climate change. Let me say right at the outset that, as chair of the cross-party group on digital, I'm eager to see us make more use of digital platforms, to improve...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: A long list of reasons was given to me by the 2 Sisters chief executive for coming to this decision: Brexit, inflation, workforce shortages, COVID, energy prices. There were elements around the condition, the size, and the location of the factory itself too, he said. But, we can see that those overarching factors are ones directly under the control of UK Government, and we have to look to UK...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response. It's difficult to put in words how much of a blow this would be if the factory were to close. Over 700 people are working there, at the heart of Anglesey. A high percentage live very locally, close enough to walk to work. Losing those jobs would permeate through the whole community of Llangefni and beyond, and I'm thinking about everyone who has been impacted by...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 3. Will the Minister make a statement in response to 2 Sisters Food Group's announcement of a consultation on closing its site in Llangefni? TQ720
Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I thank the Minister for the statement? Essentially, I welcome the intention here to invest in the workforce. The health workforce is very broad indeed, it's very diverse, and comprehensive health and care services that are sustainable do have to bring together that broad range of health professionals. It's good that we are now talking about these allied health professionals, something...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: There are so many things, of course, that contribute to the pressures on the ambulance service, the kinds of pressures that forced a constituent of mine to wait 24 hours for an ambulance, having broken her hip. Now, the five-point plan for health and care services, published today by Plaid Cymru in partnership with many health organisations, touches upon some of the elements that could help...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much to Janet Finch-Saunders for presenting this debate. I'm pleased that we are keeping hydrogen on the agenda. It's almost three years, I think, since I led a debate here on hydrogen—I think it was one of the first here in the Senedd; I've presented another one since then. And since then, we've seen the beginnings of a hydrogen industry in Wales. I was very pleased to see...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Yes, certainly.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I don't have enough time to describe the damage that I believe would be caused to the national health service if the Conservatives were in charge. I will move swiftly on, and back to the comments that we heard from the health Minister, who again deflected blame, time and time again, and said there had been unprecedented demand. Of course there's unprecedented demand, but that unprecedented...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. My biggest fear this afternoon would be that I would hear the Minister saying, 'We're already doing everything that needs to be done to resolve the crisis.' What we heard was the Minister saying that everything is already in train, everything is already being done to resolve this crisis. It clearly isn't, and that runs contrary to all the evidence that we have in...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: If the Minister will take an intervention, I'll gladly explain that again.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: What I said was top of the list was to resolve that pay dispute.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thanks for taking an intervention. One suggestion would be to make sure that the NHS Executive for Wales that's been set up really is a body that can make a difference—that has teeth. That's the kind of focus that I mean in terms of Government structures.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: But we have to accept that there is a crisis first of all. I described the situation as it was at the time during health questions here in the Siambr in December, and I referred to a series of challenges, as I saw them that day, including winter pressures, the recruitment and retention of staff, waiting times for treatment in A&E, ambulance waiting times, and so on and so forth. I asked the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd, and I'm pleased to have the opportunity to move this motion. To continue in the spirit that we've seen in the Senedd this afternoon, I will emphasise that this motion is intended to be constructive. Yes, it is critical of the Welsh Government's management of health and care services, and I'm afraid that is based on the clear evidence before us. But this...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It's a former head of research at General Motors, Charles Kettering, who said nearly a century ago now that 'a problem well stated is half solved'. Now, when this Senedd declared a climate emergency, it was a declaration that the challenge we faced on climate change was so extraordinary that it needed to be elevated, to be elevated within our national psyche, to be elevated in terms of...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention?
