Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:46 pm on 2 November 2016.
Thank you to Hannah Blythyn for allowing me a minute of her time. I obviously represent a south Wales constituency, but my contribution to the debate is to say, really, that the priorities that Hannah Blythyn identified in her speech are ones that we should applaud and support in all parts of Wales. They’re vital for our economic development and our resilient economic future, whichever part of Wales we live in.
I just want to mention one aspect, which is common to both my part of the world and Hannah Blythyn’s, which is the development of tidal lagoon technology, which we hope to pilot in the Swansea bay area. But there’s obviously a proposal, which I hope becomes a reality, for that to be rolled out across north Wales as well. It’s absolutely vital, not just for the green economy generally, but in terms of the investment in the Welsh economy—close to half of the investment will remain in Wales. The jobs created by the construction of these lagoons will be good jobs, not only on site, but also, as she mentioned in her speech, across the supply chain, for different parts of our economy. The lagoon in Swansea is estimated to add about £76 million a year to the Welsh economy over 100 years. Imagine what that would be like if we could replicate that across Wales.