Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. This has been a debate that is beneficial for the Assembly as a whole, because it demonstrates that we can discuss a motion that has been signed by Members of all parties, and there will also be a free vote on the motion, with the exception, of course, that members of the Government will abstain—not because we disagree necessarily with anything that is contained within the motion as tabled, but because we don't feel that it's appropriate to call for the Government to work with the WRU in relation to the development of clubs and partnerships at a regional level without being clear in our understanding of what that wording means. Because, as I sought to explain clearly a fortnight ago, when I sought to respond to questions when they were first posed by Andrew R.T. Davies, Dai Lloyd, Mike Hedges—and I’m also grateful to Rhun ap Iorwerth for his contribution today, and to all of you for your contributions to this debate—I don't believe that a Government can instruct a body that is independent in its constitution, that is voluntary in nature and that is culturally crucial, in terms of how that body should behave.

I want to make a comparison, which might be unexpected to some of you. I remember being on the other side of the discussion in terms of the relationship between the National Eisteddfod and the Welsh Government, many years ago. Although I did see that it was important that the Government was able to invest in developments, particularly infrastructure development, to support culture, I don’t believe that it’s the role of Government to invest directly or to seek to collaborate directly with the national rugby team, any local rugby team, or indeed with cultural festivals such as those that we have the length and breadth of Wales.

There’s been a strong emphasis on rugby as a national sport here in Wales, but the changes that we have seen in the game emanate from its growth as a global sport, and an important part of that, in my view, was that seven-a-side rugby became part of the Olympic Games and it created an interest in nations that traditionally hadn't played the game in the past, and the fact that we are reaching a position where there are 20 nations competing in the world cup demonstrates how international rugby has grown. And that, of course, is a challenge to societies and communities that have followed rugby traditionally, but also to the professional administration of rugby and to the decisions that have to be taken as a result of these changes.

The successes of Wales in the five nations championship, in the six nations championship from the 2000s onwards, winning five championships, four grand slams and the seven-a-side rugby cup, all of these successes, and our ability to attract coaches of global renown such as Warren Gatland—this all demonstrates the success of the game, as does the development of the women’s team and the success that they had in the six nations with an excellent win against Ireland.

This all demonstrates how rugby is central to our culture. But that’s not the argument. We demonstrated our stance as an Assembly and as a Senedd and as a Government very clearly in this building last week, where we can celebrate the success of our national team. And our support and our assistance to rugby permeates through all provision. We are supportive of the development of all sorts of rugby at local levels. For example, last week, I was at the very special competition arranged by the WRU with schools and pupils with learning difficulties. There were 300 young people, led by Sport Caerphilly, who were participating in that festival of rugby. And I had an opportunity too to be at the recent launch—within the last week in fact—of the seven-a-side rugby competition where the WRU is working with the Urdd.

The funding that we provide through Sport Wales, in partnership with them, of over £850,000 per annum to the WRU is a sign of the support that we are providing. And this is getting a response. I was very pleased with the clear description that we heard from Rhun ap Iorwerth of rugby as a national sport and a game that is played on all levels within our communities. The figures do demonstrate that: 41 per cent, according to the schools sports survey, have played rugby at least once in any given location over the past year, and that’s an increase of 8 per cent over the last three years since the last survey was conducted. The Hub schools rugby programme of the WRU is growing, and 89 schools are participating in that scheme, and hundreds of boys and girls are playing regularly. Therefore, in that context we see the efforts by the WRU to re-establish our regions.

Now, I’m not going to make any comment on those events. Any comments I have made have been made in private and I don’t intend to make them as a Minister any more than I did a fortnight ago. But the Welsh Government has taken a professional interest, as we should do as a Government, through our officials and through our informal discussions, in what the WRU has been seeking to do. But we are not going to come to a position where we inform the WRU, any more than we would inform any other body, how to organise their own activities. Therefore, I do hope that those comments demonstrate clearly that we do have an understanding of the role of Government in relation to the development of rugby, but that this does not mean that we are seeking to instruct any of our sporting bodies, any more than our cultural bodies, that we are trying to intervene in the way that they conduct their business.

If I may make one appeal in conclusion, I think it is important that the discussion on the future of the Welsh rugby teams and the regional rugby system happens in a spirit that is similar to the discussion that we have had today. I don’t want—and I think Rhun and Andrew R.T. emphasised this, as did Mike Hedges, in their various contributions—. We don’t want to see parochialism and regional negativism, or an area-against-area approach emerging in this discussion. What we want to see is to demonstrate the same kind of spirit that was so apparent in Cardiff in our success at the end of this year’s six nations, and that that spirit too can enlighten people’s views across all levels of rugby in Wales.