Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much. Isn't the protesting that is ongoing—[Interruption.] I will give you a moment.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I will continue in English. Isn't it the case that the protests that we are seeing taking place now, and the very real concerns that are being raised, are proving what I said in this Chamber back in May—that what I said then was quite correct? That was the debate, you will remember, on the report of the Petitions Committee, of which I am a Member, about what is happening to this mud. I had...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response, this was a case of having to word a question very carefully, because if I had asked the question that I wanted to ask on physical activity rather than physical health, the question would have gone to another Minister, but it was directed at you because of course promoting physical activity and exercise is crucial in promoting physical health. As we await the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: The result of your caution, you see, is that Betsi Cadwaladr has been in special measures now for over three years. I'm clear in my mind that patients in the north of Wales deserve better. And here we have a model that I believe could work for the whole of Wales after being rolled out in the health board with the biggest population and serving the biggest area. People living in the north...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Of course, you do report back to the Assembly often that you feel that improvements are being made in several areas, but it’s clear to me that there is a block in the system. I don’t know if it’s a funding block, or a block in terms of management, or if there is a more major problem that needs to be addressed. We are talking about the need to deliver services more and more in the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you. Your Government has run the Betsi Cadwaladr health board for over three years now and we haven’t seen sufficient improvements as of yet, I’m afraid. So, what are the main reasons why you have failed in that regard?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I think my views on supporting rural schools are well known. I sympathise with councils in all parts of Wales that face impossible budgetary scenarios and I do think that the Government has to secure adequate funding to support innovative methods of keeping schools in our communities and providing support to create multi-site area schools, which is something that I support. One element that...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 6. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the promotion of physical health among young people? OAQ52589
Rhun ap Iorwerth: There was a story in the media yesterday, as it happens, about a patient who had survived cancer but who had found a new growth. There was an application for a PET scan, and that was rejected. The reason for that rejection has not been given, but according to the community health council in north Wales, it’s far easier to access PET scans in certain areas than in others. There is...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will the First Minister make a statement on the promotion of Welsh food and drink produce?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I congratulate the Member for bringing this legislation before us. We as a party have believed for some time that an autism Act could provide wide-ranging benefits for those people living with autism, certainly in terms of encouraging swift diagnosis, tackling things such as waiting times, and also providing consistency across Wales. I am also very aware...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much for that response. Modern slavery, of course, is an immoral crime, which is affecting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and those who are most open to exploitation. I’ve had contact with a number of organisations in north Wales—Haven of Light is one of them—working to raise awareness and to support victims. I’ve had discussions with the local...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 1. Will the Leader of the House make a statement on Welsh Government efforts to tackle modern slavery? OAQ52542
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'd also like to place on record my thanks to Donna Ockenden and her team for preparing and publishing this most recent report. I thank the Cabinet Secretary for the statement too, but I'd like to place it on the record that I have requested in Business Committee that we have a debate on these matters. We are at a point where we need a debate and, for people watching...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. I received a letter from the Minister for economy and transport on 25 June, and in that, he referred to a meeting that had to be cancelled between both of us a while ago because of reasons that the Minister couldn’t avoid. But it says a couple of positive things about plans that I’m very supportive of: to reopen the railway across Anglesey between Gaerwen and...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: The Prince Madog is the key to future Welsh maritime research. It's the key to providing the science, providing the data, the evidence, to make the most of our maritime resources. We have to map our shores and sea bed or we get left behind. The majority of high-resolution imagery of the Welsh sea beds done to date has actually been produced by the RV Prince Madog. It's the best for the job....
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ‘our initiative'— the EU initiative— 'to create a digital map of the entire seabed of European waters will increase the predictability for businesses to invest, lowering costs and stimulate further innovation for sustainable blue growth.’
Rhun ap Iorwerth: At the European level, there has been strategic thinking on how to carry out that mapping, but there has been no co-ordinated plan for the UK—no plan for Wales. The process of gathering data has been ad hoc. It hasn’t been properly co-ordinated, and that must change. Of course, we have the resource that we need to do that work. We see it on the screen: the Prince Madog. So what’s the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, and thank you for your patience and your assistance in the face of IT difficulties. The people of Anglesey and the banks of the Menai will be very familiar with the title of my debate today. The Prince Madog and its predecessor the original Prince Madog have been a familiar sight tied to the pier in Menai Bridge for decades, and I’m proud to be able to show it on the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I think that's a perfectly valid suggestion. The conclusions we came to were that there needs to be a whole range of bodies with teeth, and bodies that are empowered to help this systematic abuse, which is what it's turned into, to come to a head.
