Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. Since the pandemic, many of our care workers have been struggling to make ends meet, and I'm sure many of us have heard about the situation that both those receiving care and those giving care are in. In July, the new administration of Powys County Council—a group of political parties: Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green; and we all need to work together on this as...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. On Thursday last week, I was actually on a stall with the Brecon, Hay and Talgarth refugee support group, and I met a refugee there, a young woman, who has three children, the youngest of whom was actually born in a bomb shelter in Kyiv. She's an amazingly entrepreneurial person and is trying to set up a business making jewellery. But she wanted me to pass on her...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. This sounds amazing. Thank you so much for the statement—a real, long-term vision of where we see our energy going, when it's so tempting for political parties to just look at the short term. So, thank you so much. Just two really quick points, if I may. Just looking at small renewable community energy projects, just trying to understand how this new renewable...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Trefnydd. The particular financial situation at the moment means that those who are the poorest in our society are going to be particularly hard hit and those who are currently in debt are going to suffer particular problems. This was highlighted in an online story by the BBC that focused on the terrible case of a single mother who worked as a carer. Julie spoke of the shame...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, First Minister. As well as paying tribute to the health workers and those in our health professions who deal with cancer, there is also a range of charities who meet the needs of everybody suffering from cancer, and that includes the families of those suffering from cancer. Many of those have mental health issues, and people want to talk, not just the cancer sufferer, but...
Jane Dodds: I'd also like to join with many others in thanking the former children's commissioner, Dr Sally Holland, for her leadership as the commissioner in promoting and safeguarding the rights of children and young people in Wales. As chair of the cross-party group on children and families and children in our care, I just want to use my brief time to focus on children and young people who are looked...
Jane Dodds: Will you take an intervention, please?
Jane Dodds: Thank you so much. It was really great to hear you saying 'more homes, less people homeless', but I'm just really concerned about the Conservative position in relation to selling off our social housing. It's something I believe your party still supports. I just wondered if you could comment on that. Is that something you believe in—taking the social housing stock from local authorities and...
Jane Dodds: May I thank the committee and the committee Chair?
Jane Dodds: A huge amount of work has been done by the committee, for which we're very grateful, to make the case for a more proportionate response to what is a really serious issue. I haven't spoken to any farmer who doesn't recognise that the water quality needs to be better. Everybody wants to work together on this, a team Wales approach. I have written to the First Minister to ask for an economic...
Jane Dodds: Thank you. I had an excellent time visiting a clinic providing community dental services in Llanelli in September. I'd like to thank everyone who has been working in communities across Wales, particularly during the red period of the pandemic, to ensure that emergency services were available.
Jane Dodds: In visiting the community dental services in Llanelli, I learned a lot about what they do in meeting the needs of vulnerable people: people who have disabilities, mental health difficulties, and also refugees. But there was a concern around the erosion of community dental services. They were really impacted by the pressure on the general dentistry service, and some of their emergency slots...
Jane Dodds: Thank you, Llywydd. Good afternoon, Minister. I had a good time in September when I visited a clinic—
Jane Dodds: Sorry. You're right.
Jane Dodds: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on the future of community dental services? OQ58536
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. I welcome this Bill; it is a landmark Bill. It is always tempting, isn't it, when we do something well—and I think that that's definitely happened—to say, 'Well done, but what about—?', and I just have one of those, if I may. But, I do want to say thank you very much for the work that's been done, and thank you for the reports from the other committees as well....
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Deputy Minister. I do welcome the statement, and also the work that I know you have done and the commitment you have to this particular area of work. Just two things from me, if I may. Firstly, the situation with CAMHS was bad before COVID, significantly bad. It was worsened, yes, but now we still have 60 per cent of young people having their first appointment within four...
Jane Dodds: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Good afternoon, Counsel General. I’ve got one minute to talk about democracy, when I am the only representative of the Liberal Democrats. But I just want to put on record how I support the principle of these reforms, because democracy in the UK is on life support, trust in politicians is at an all-time low, turnout in elections remains low, participation in democracy...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. This afternoon, at lunchtime, many people across the Senedd joined together to support the people in Iran, and I request a statement from the Government on the situation in Iran. You will know that there have been terrible situations in Iran, following the tragic death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, and, then, 16-year-old Nika Shakarami. The protestors—women,...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, First Minister. I just want to say that I feel it's really sad that the Conservatives on the other side of the benches don't listen to the real concerns we have around services here in Wales. I hope that, through listening—through listening—you are able to take back the very clear message that we need a dialogue between the UK Government and the Welsh Government in order...
