Thank you very much, Llywydd. If I may start by noting that we are discussing the draft Wales marine plan today and we will have another discussion tomorrow on the climate change committee’s report on this very subject, I just hope that the next time something like this happens, the Business Committee will be more creative in terms of having a debate on Government proposals applied and having light thrown on them by the committee’s report, rather than having two separate debates on the same issue. Having said that, I am very pleased that we are discussing this today. It is a consultation and many of the questions that I am to ask will perhaps be answered during that consultation, and there are a few points that will perhaps emerge during that process too.

I’d like to start on the areas on which I agree with the Cabinet Secretary, namely this basic principle that we, as a nation, have turned our backs on the marine environment over the past 50 years and don’t think enough about the sea as a source of livelihood, as a source of biodiversity and as a source of some of the more economically beneficial things that we can develop for the future. I also share, in terms of the Plaid Cymru amendments, the fears about the delays before bringing forward this consultation and these are concerns that are shared with the Conservative party, I know, too. A whole Assembly term has passed since we heard the marine policy statement, before we have seen this draft marine plan, and during that period, evidence received by the climate change committee, during its inquiry—the report of which we will discuss tomorrow—has shown clearly that the marine conservation areas are all in an unfavourable condition for the habitats and in terms of the variety of marine life within them, so time is progressing and things are in decline.

I asked the question of the Cabinet Secretary about the first response of some of the environmental organisations to this announcement and I think that was driven by the emphasis in the report on marine energy and the possibility of tidal lagoons. Now, that is something that Plaid Cymru supports in principle, but of course, it is also one of the tests of the future generations Act as it is progressed. It’s important to note that it’s a full year since the independent Hendry report was published on the Swansea bay tidal lagoon, which was to give us the answers to some of the questions that have been posed by the environmental organisations today and which are also mentioned in the consultation too.

We know that biodiversity is under threat because of marine energy developments—of course they are—and there is an impact on ecosystems in developing marine energy. But climate change is also, in turn, having an impact on our seas and our marine habitats and biodiversity in our marine environment, and actually finding balance between those two things was exactly what was to be answered, at least partially, by having a pathfinder tidal lagoon programme, as it was described in the Hendry report. So, it’s very disappointing that the Westminster Government is still treating Wales in a way where no decision has even been taken a full year since that independent report was published.

The second area that will draw the public’s attention in this report is the emphasis on pollution, and plastics are something that we’ve already discussed, having returned from recess, here in Plenary today. But it’s important to highlight that those who responded to the climate change committee on these issues had mentioned pollution and plastics in our seas as one of the things that concerned them the most. Not only does that have an impact on tourism and our enjoyment of our coastal areas, but it also has a specific impact on marine life, and therefore tackling plastics pollution is going to be an important part of marine planning as far as the Government is concerned.

There will be a number of other issues discussed as we respond to the climate change committee’s report, so I don’t want to repeat myself too much in two days. I will just mention a few of the challenges for the current plan. I would note, of course, that we are starting a consultation period looking forward to a response from those communities specifically living in our coastal areas, and I welcome what the Cabinet Secretary said on the possibility, now, of public meetings and public debate on this plan.