Thank you for your statement, Minister. Genomics has enabled groundbreaking advances in research and medicinal applications, and I believe holds an enormous hope for us all in the future. We all know of the crisis facing humans, because of the overuse of antibiotics and the ever-mutating bacteria that produce the superbugs that seem to survive all. Finding alternatives for the treatment of illnesses that are caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria is dependent on the study of bacteriophage genomics. Being able to maximise on our drugs’ efficiency and toxicity will be key in optimising drug therapy. So, the Welsh Conservatives welcome this focus on the area of precision medicine, and the consultation and subsequent strategy have set parameters within which we can explore how we can develop Wales’s abilities to play a crucial role in the development of precision medicines.

Now, studying the report, Cabinet Secretary, I do have four questions that I would just like to ask for further expansion on. Priority 2 mentions IT infrastructure requirements. Now, there’s obviously a need for high-quality, reliable communications infrastructure to be in place to allow these facilities to grow across Wales, and not just in urban centres, particularly if they’re going to be allied to universities and to various hospital research centres. So, what guarantees can the Cabinet Secretary give us that all corners of Wales will be linked up to a fast communication network so that we can really, really maximise on this? In my own constituency, I have a number of highly innovative companies that deliver targeted, precision medicinal implements around the world and that have built businesses that are doing incredibly well, but they have had to face the communications challenge again and again and again to enable their businesses and their research facilities, and the collaboration that they have with partners across the world to really grow. So, that would be my absolute first question.

Secondly, the strategy acknowledges that large data sets are an essential tool and that there are challenges with respect to the anonymisation of data. It also talks of the need to access patient samples and of the integration with SAIL. What processes, Cabinet Secretary, are in place to protect data, to protect the patient and patient confidentiality? Cyber attacks are a growing threat, and I think we must be mindful of security. I think it’s very important, as well, that we make sure that patients are completely secure in knowing that if they put forward any part of their treatment or their results for analysis in these data sets, it won’t be held against them or their successors, especially in terms of insurance claims, with insurance companies always wanting to know what people’s genetic histories are, and that whole growing industry that’s beginning to evolve. So, I’d like to really understand the security elements of it.

Cabinet Secretary, what support have you put in place for getting people trained in this field within Wales? Perhaps you could outline what steps are being taken with the health boards, with the research institutions and with the universities to get more of our young people interested in this growing and vitally important area.

Finally, in the report, it mentions that

‘A business case will be developed by the end of 2017’ regarding the siting of a genomics laboratory. I just wondered what progress has been made on this.

This is a really exciting area of research. I absolutely welcome the statement, and I would encourage you, and I would want to support you, in putting as much effort and money as we can into this area, because I truly believe this is one way of not only protecting ourselves in the future, but of addressing the vast health inequalities we have, not just in our country, but throughout the world.