Jane Dodds: Thank you very much to Huw for bringing this short debate, and I really do want to thank others here who stayed in the Siambr, of both genders, and across all of the parties. Thank you for staying with us and listening to this because it is appreciated. I just want to also touch on the fact that, where I live in Powys, there are no specialist services and we do have to travel across the...
Jane Dodds: Tourism is a vital part of our economy; it accounted for 11.3 per cent of all jobs in 2020, and, in rural areas like the one I represent, that proportion is much higher. More than half of those jobs are part time, a far higher proportion than the economy as a whole. It is essential, but it's fragile. Many of the jobs are in hospitality and it is a sector dominated by small and medium...
Jane Dodds: I am a member of the Business Committee, and we have rehearsed these issues before, including Darren Millar's position that the pairing system actually fulfils the issues we're trying to address. It doesn't address or fulfil those issues for somebody like myself, who is a sole Member. I cannot pair with another Member for a long period of time, because there will be different times for...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. Just following on from that question from Gareth as well, I also met with Ukrainian guests and their hosts in Powys last week, in Talybont, and one of the issues that they did raise with me was transport, particularly in a rural area. There is a concern around the freedom pass coming to an end at the end of June, so my first question is: I wonder if you would...
Jane Dodds: I recognise and welcome this really positive statement, but I would like to remind Members that, of course, this doesn't replace the unfettered access we had to the world's largest single market prior to us leaving the EU. But this is a reset for some of our coastal communities that have really struggled. I wondered if I could focus just on one specific question to you, Minister. There are...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. It is reported that the chief executive of Dŵr Cymru is to receive a bonus payment of nearly £0.25 million. This is despite sewage being in our rivers and our seas, and our beaches being in a terrible condition. I wonder if I could ask for a statement, please, from the relevant Minister on the performance of Dŵr Cymru, as well as the payment of bonuses to senior...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, First Minister. Today the Welsh Liberal Democrats published a report looking at dentistry, particularly focusing on our concern around two-tier dentistry—and I do make no apology in using that term. We have a system at the moment that means that, if you can pay for dentistry, then you don't have to wait; if you can't, then you do have to wait. And that is the basic truth. I...
Jane Dodds: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you to Rhys for raising this issue this evening.
Jane Dodds: I just really wanted in the very short time that I've got just to ask the Minister about two specific issues around developers. We know that developers have been dragged literally kicking and screaming to the table, and, really, as I said, I think it was yesterday, we have no sympathy for them, and I think, I’m hoping, that there will be demands made of them. And there are two specifics...
Jane Dodds: Thank you to Plaid Cymru for this motion. I'm going to be supporting the motion unamended. Just let me tell you a little story about door-knocking in a village called Llangynog, which is just south of Llanwddyn, near lake Vyrnwy. I came across a lady who told me about the bus service that she took every week with her friends, run by Tanat Valley Coaches, based in Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant. Once...
Jane Dodds: I'd just like to start my contribution with this reflection on this debate: I feel this is a really poor way to do politics. This place, in my view, is much better than that. I don't see how spending 60 minutes, which we will do today, plus the time we have all spent, those of us speaking, in preparing for this debate, will resolve anything for the NHS staff and patients who have not received...
Jane Dodds: If you are poor, life is totally against you. You have no chance of having direct debit to pay your bills, you have to put up with a higher standing charge, and now we know the scandal of prepayment meters. We use the word 'scandal' here quite a lot, but it really is a scandal that, actually, shamefully, has only just come to light recently, and which has only just been acted on. If you are a...
Jane Dodds: I know. I'm sorry. I couldn't resist that, Llywydd.
Jane Dodds: My point to you, Minister, is as follows: going back to Valley racetrack, which Hefin has highlighted, I understand—and I hope that you would agree with this—that if greyhound racing was banned at Valley racetrack, we would only see a period of between nine and 12 months when dogs would need to be removed from there to be rehomed. Therefore, the potential closure—and I know that you...
Jane Dodds: I'm glad that I followed my colleague Natasha Asghar because I really want to make it clear that I've also met with GBGB. Let me tell you two things that GBGB confirmed that they did, which I don't think you would want to see as high animal welfare standards. One of them is that we know that, at a GBGB track in Harlow last year, we saw racing of greyhounds at a temperature of 32 degrees...
Jane Dodds: Thank you so much for this statement, and following on from what Janet said, I do welcome it coming so quickly—thank you so much for that, Minister. I just, really, want to concentrate on developers in the short time that I have, and we've heard from my colleague, Mabon ap Gwynfor about some of the issues that I wanted to cover. But I just wondered what range of sanctions was available to...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. Yes, I join with many people in welcoming this. It is long overdue, but it's great to have the start. We know that air pollution cuts people's lives short, makes people, including our children, unwell, and is a huge strain on our health service as well as harming the environment. Just two issues from me, if I may, Minister. One is that you talked about deploying the...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. I'd like to ask for a statement, please, from the Minister for Climate Change on the timeline for the next iteration of the Warm Homes programme. Within the Equality and Social Justice Committee, we have raised this issue and have looked at the importance of having a clear timeline for this programme, given its importance, as I'm sure you'll know, to many people...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, First Minister. I'm calling it the great Wales train robbery—that's what the Westminster Government are doing to Wales by claiming yet again, and you've referred to this, that HS2 is an England-and-Wales project, which actually means that Wales will lose £5 billion-worth of funding. And then, to add insult to injury, last week's announcement that the Northern Powerhouse...
Jane Dodds: I am guilty as charged; I am one of those who've used the phrase 'two-tier system', and let me tell you why, because I think it's really important. I do acknowledge that NICE guidelines have changed—I think we all do; we all hear that. I know there needs to be a skill mix in dentistry, and I think that's accepted. There have always been dental charges for adults in the past. I remember that...
