5. Statement by the Llywydd: Introduction of a Commission-proposed Bill — Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:11 pm on 13 February 2019.

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Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 4:11, 13 February 2019

Thank you. Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. I won't keep you; I just wanted to add to the very short debate that we've had on the parallels with the Republic of Ireland. Oireachtas—and forgive me my pronunciation—is the name of the Parliament; you have the Dáil Éireann and the Seaned Éireann as Chambers within that Parliament. If you do go and Google and put 'Oireachtas' in there, it says 'the homepage of the Irish Parliament'. Now, Irish Parliament is not an official name at all for the Parliament, but it is a descriptor, and I think we do need to move towards having a name, a single name, 'Senedd', for our new national Parliament, but we also need this legislation, of course, to describe our change on that journey from being an Assembly, which was a term that was to put us at a lower level to the Parliament in Scotland. We need this legislation to take us on that journey to being a Parliament. So, I think we need 'Senedd' as a name, we need a way, through this legislation, to have 'Parliament' there as a descriptor, and I look forward to us using this as a step to establishing ourselves even further in the hearts and minds of the people of Wales in our next 20 years and beyond.