3. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:11 pm on 5 March 2019.

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Photo of Bethan Sayed Bethan Sayed Plaid Cymru 3:11, 5 March 2019

My constituent Hannah Evans has been diagnosed as having a rare hereditary genetic condition, Ehlers-Danlos type 3 syndrome—I hope I've said that right—and has developed secondary complications as a result of mast cell activation disease and systemic mastocytosis disorder. Hannah has to travel to London to see a private specialist as there is no specialist in Wales to meet her complex medical needs, and that's put a lot of pressure on the family because they've had to pay for this private treatment and they have been turned down by the specialist services here in Wales. So, they've asked me to raise this with Welsh Government, calling for a statement on how you could potentially look to fund these types of conditions in the future, given the fact that the cost of private treatment is so high and may push people out of being able to seek that treatment as a consequence. 

The second question I wanted to ask followed on from Andrew R.T. Davies's in relation to the situation with regard to rugby. The first question is: why are they doing this in the middle of the six nations, for one, because it's really distracting everybody when it should unite a nation? And the other question is: I heard your answer earlier, but I don't think it's as easy as Welsh Government looking from the sidelines. At the end of the day, the WRU will be applying to the Welsh Government for a new region in north Wales. A potential merger is one thing and, as you said, there are different opinions, but this will affect livelihoods, this will affect the job conditions of the rugby players and where they are settled at the moment, uprooting them from their communities. Can you tell us what discussions you are having with the Welsh Rugby Union and how you will be engaging with them to find a solution that will be sustainable and viable for the future, because we've seen this happen before in Pontypridd and we don't want to see the same mistakes repeated again? So, please give us reassurances. We would appreciate a statement.