Rhun ap Iorwerth: To me, you won't be surprised to hear, making sure that Holyhead is the key port for the next generation of offshore wind in the Irish sea is very, very important. The free port bid developed by Ynys Môn and Stena for the north of Wales could be key in that. I'm sure the Member would be glad that the campaign was successful to get a level playing field in terms of funding for free ports in...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much for that response, but it's the same old sermon from me, I'm afraid. We need to do much, much more on the preventative agenda if we are to make Wales a healthier nation, and right across Government. In Anglesey there are genuine concerns about the future of the national exercise referral scheme, or NERS, because of a lack of investment. Now, the £145,530 that the council...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 6. What discussions has the Minister had with other Ministers regarding the funding of preventive health measures across the Government? OQ58961
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I'll begin in a constructive way with those areas where I agree with the Minister. On non-pay issues, I'm pleased that there's serious focus on staff welfare and that reducing agency costs is a part of what Government sees as the way forward, although I couldn't quite get the First Minister's attitude today, when he seemed to be defending the structures through which agency working currently...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I ask for an urgent statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services about the consultation currently underway by the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee, even though it's very difficult to find information about the consultation regarding changes proposed to fertility treatment in Wales? I'm concerned, although the consultation is still ongoing, and has been extended,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I do think there's real benefit in thinking in a joined-up way about offshore wind off the west coast of Wales—the Celtic and Irish seas. I think the free-port bidding process offers an opportunity to do that. Now, as you can imagine, I'm confident in the quality of the Holyhead/Ynys Môn north Wales free-port bid for what it can offer in terms of growing that sector, as well as mitigation...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I am very grateful to the Member for Monmouth for choosing this particular topic. It was a genuinely thoughtful and well-reasoned contribution. I'm sure that he himself would admit that these aren't entirely new ideas that he's mentioned. We do need to bring these ideas together in this way to the Senedd, because we do need to innovate in these ways to solve some of the issues that we're...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much. I appreciate your description of the situation and I'm very pleased that you have asked for today's comments to be borne in mind. But, can I ask for your views on a point of principle? Do you agree with me that it would be inappropriate to increase the number of patients reached in one part of Wales at the expense of those people who live in other areas? We all want to...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: What we have asked for is a genuinely independent review of the proposal and the statistics that underpin it. The modelling system used wasn't designed for this the sort of thing. Many of the additional patients that apparently could be reached have already been addressed by enhancements to the Cardiff base. Remember the recent reports on the service, highlighting the need to enhance the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd, and Plaid Cymru is pleased to co-submit this motion. It's very important that there is cross-party support here, and I do appeal to Members on the Labour benches to support the motion. Let me take you back to August, the Bull pub in Llannerch-y-medd. And I don't know how exactly to describe the community extravaganza of the sheep shearing. There was a fair there,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: This is a very timely debate as January is Love Your Liver Awareness Month, and today, 11 January, is National Less Survivable Cancers Awareness Day. This debate emanates from the work of the cross-party group on liver disease and liver cancer, which is a group that I'm proud to be a part of. Through that group, I and others commit to drawing attention to the crisis that we are facing in...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much. It is very important to stick to that timetable. We can all agree, I hope, that the experience of the past few months has proven just how vulnerable the infrastructure is in terms of the Menai crossings. The closure of the Menai bridge and the traffic jams on the Britannia bridge have created great inconvenience and had a great impact on business, not only in the Menai...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 6. Will the Minister provide an update on the work to reopen the Menai bridge? OQ58910
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I have a few other points that I want to question you on briefly. It's clear that the combination of COVID and flu is causing problems. There's a target of vaccinating 75 per cent of everyone offered a vaccination. Only some 41 per cent, as I understand it, of healthcare staff have been vaccinated—41 per cent of those who are most vulnerable. Does the Minister accept that the Government is...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: This is not the statement that I had expected today; it's not the statement that I think the people of Wales needed to hear. This isn't a plan; this is a status report. It's a report on what Government has been doing to try to get the NHS ready for winter, to try to deal with current pressures, but frankly we know that what this Labour Government has done hasn't worked. What we want to know...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: A very happy new year to you all. Clearly, it hasn't been a good start to the year for the NHS. I can only thank the staff for their work in circumstances that are becoming more and more impossible.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: We've had two incidents of this kind in the space of a fortnight in north Wales—two internal critical incidents. And I can give the First Minister an assurance that it does feel to be critical within Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board day upon day, for patients waiting a long time for treatment, for staff who are working under huge pressures and for ambulance workers who've had enough...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 8. Will the First Minister make a statement on the critical internal incident within Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board? OQ58933
Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I thank Jack for bringing this short debate forward today? I want to take you back some 30 years. I was chair of the University of Wales branch of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg when I was invited to be part of a delegation to go to Barclays's headquarters in Wales, which was on Queen Street in Cardiff, to lobby for a Welsh option on cash points. Now, cash points were relatively new at that...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I have to emphasise the importance of this debate from our benches this afternoon. I'll focus on the clear connection between poverty and health issues. We are going through a very difficult financial situation at the moment, that's clear from the draft budget that was discussed yesterday, which has major restrictions placed upon it in genuinely hard times. And it's no surprise in that...
