My support for the retention of a 24-hour consultant-led A&E at the Royal Glamorgan is total and is unwavering, and I believe that it is the only viable option. The community I live in is galvanised as perhaps never before in fighting for this outcome, and I'm pleased that this campaign also has the support of the main hospital trade unions—Unite, Unison and the GMB. I've attended both recent local health board meetings; I've spoken at the rallies and public meetings in support of the retention of 24-hour A&E at the Royal Glamorgan. And I'm also pleased that the motion that I moved in the Assembly several weeks ago, with the support of my colleagues and with cross-party support, in support of keeping the A&E at the Royal Glamorgan was successful, and supported by all parties. I want to reiterate that motion for the record, because it calls on the health board to rule out the closure of the accident and emergency service at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, or the replacing of the existing accident and emergency service with a 24-hour minor injuries unit, and to reinstate the option of maintaining a full consultant-led accident and emergency service at the Royal Glamorgan.

I am sad that, on an issue as important as this, Plaid have chosen only to allow 30 minutes for debate, which really seriously limits the ability of Members to participate, and I'm limited to three minutes. The Plaid motion tabled today is inaccurate and misleading, and that is why I will not be supporting it. It refers to rescinding a decision by Welsh Government, which has never existed—there is nothing to rescind. It also calls for the health Minister to take action, which he cannot take until the health board has actually taken a decision. Now, that situation may change, but only once a decision has been taken and that is why all my efforts until that time is reached will be focused on persuading the local health board and its members that 24-hour A&E must be retained and I believe that we are winning the argument and that we will succeed.

The motion, I believe, takes our eye off the ball, and it diverts our focus from where the key decision is going to be taken, and that is where I and my colleagues will concentrate our support. I will, however, be supporting the two Conservative amendments 2 and 5, because they do make an important contribution to this debate. Firstly, unlike the Plaid motion, they reiterate the important motion already passed by this Assembly—this is important.

Secondly, they highlight the key issue of this campaign, which is the failure of the local health board for the past seven years to recruit consultants, and, in fact, the failure to advertise for full-time consultants until recently. It is no wonder the A&E has been blighted. Commitment to a 24-hour permanent A&E is fundamental to being able to recruit.

Llywydd, my colleagues and I are concerned and committed to ensuring that 24-hour A&E will be retained at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital. Our strategy is based on actually winning this campaign and I believe that we will.