Welcome back. The next item is a statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services—an update on coronavirus. I call on the Minister to make that statement—Eluned Morgan.

Thank you very much, Llywydd. I am sure that Members will be pleased to note that Wales continues to have the lowest rate of coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom. The number of confirmed cases here in Wales is currently 10.4 per 100,000 people. The number of people in hospital with coronavirus is at the lowest level since the start of the pandemic. We have recently seen a period of 10 days where no new deaths from the virus were recorded. Sadly, though, Public Health Wales reported one death yesterday. These achievements reflect the hard work of people throughout Wales to keep themselves and their families safe.

Over recent weeks, we have however seen developments in relation to the so-called India variant of concern, or the delta variant, as the World Health Organization has named it. These developments are cause for concern. They are testament that the coronavirus has not gone away. We have been carefully monitoring this new variant. It appears to be spreading in many parts of England. Here in Wales, we have identified a growing number of cases. Today, it has reached 178 people, including a cluster of cases in Conwy, which is under close investigation at the moment.

The delta variant has the potential to become the next dominant strain of the virus in the United Kingdom, but we hope we can contain cases and prevent this variant from spreading further. But I think we have to be realistic, and we do expect to see the number of cases in Wales continuing to increase.

Whilst the public health situation therefore remains good in Wales, the delta variant brings a new level of uncertainty. It was in this context that the most recent review of the coronavirus restrictions took place, on 3 June. Whilst Wales is moving to alert level 1, as previously signalled, we will now do this in a phased way. Changes to the regulations from 7 June therefore focused on easing restriction on outdoor events and activities. The risk of transmission is much lower outdoors, and these changes will allow people to take advantage of, hopefully, the good summer weather.

Up to 30 people can now meet outdoors, including in private gardens, outdoor hospitality and public places. Larger outdoor organised gatherings and events for up to 4,000 people standing and 10,000 people seated can also now take place. This includes concerts, football matches and sporting activities like organised running groups. All organisers must undertake a full risk assessment and put in place measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, including social distancing.

Finally, provision now allows for extended households to be made up of three households who can meet and have contact indoors. This is an increase from the two households previously allowed. We will consider further changes to the regulations on indoor activity later in the month if public health conditions allow. In line with the coronavirus control plan at alert level 1, this would mean the rule of six would apply for meeting indoors in private homes and in holiday accommodation. We will also consider increasing numbers for indoor organised gatherings and restarting indoor events. This phased approach will provide time for more data on the impact of the delta variant to become available. It will also allow time for more people to be vaccinated, which remains our best route out of the pandemic.

I'm extremely grateful to health board vaccination teams, local partners and the many volunteers across the country for the incredible progress of our vaccination programme. More than 85 per cent of the adult population has now received their first dose of the vaccine and nearly half have completed the two-dose course.

Yesterday, I published an update on our COVID-19 vaccination strategy. It sets out our expectation to have achieved by the end of June—so, a month earlier than expected—milestone 3, and that was to have offered all adults their first dose with at least a 75 per cent uptake. The updated strategy sets out preparations for what might come next, potentially including a booster for our most vulnerable citizens and possibly a vaccine for children, and of course that is subject to Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advice and a decision by the Cabinet. We're also planning to re-offer the vaccine to those who did not take up the original offer. The roll-out of second doses will also continue. To underpin this delivery, an online system will be established in the autumn to allow people to book appointments at a time that is convenient for them.

Wales's successful test, trace and protect service was established a year ago. The Welsh Government has allocated an additional £32 million to health boards and local authorities to extend contact tracing until the end of March 2022. This increases the total Welsh Government investment in contact tracing this financial year to £92 million. On 2 June, we also published a refreshed test, trace and protect strategy setting out how the service will adapt and respond to the pandemic in the months ahead. This includes strengthened and enhanced tracing of variants of concern, as well as the management and quarantine of people returning to Wales from red and amber-list countries.

On 20 May, I set out plans for £100 million of investment to kick start the health and care system's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. This money will provide for new equipment, staff, technology and embedding the new ways of working to help health boards to increase capacity and cut waiting times. As we begin resuming non-emergency care following the pandemic, we have an opportunity to create a health and care system fit for the future.

I have today described some of the most recent developments in our ongoing efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. And it's vital that we continue to work together to keep each other safe and to keep Wales safe. Diolch, Llywydd.

Can I thank the Minister for her statement this afternoon, and say that the number of people in hospital with coronavirus is at its lowest level since the start of the pandemic? And as the Minister pointed out as well, we've seen that 10-day period where we've seen no deaths at all recorded from the virus apart from, sadly, that one death yesterday reported by Public Health Wales. I think these are huge achievements. I agree with the Minister that this is down to the hard work of people throughout Wales and the fabulous health professionals as well. And further positive news, I think, also, that we'll potentially see 100 per cent of the adult population in Wales having been offered a vaccination appointment by Monday.

The UK Government's Secretary of State for Health's statement yesterday pointed out that just 2 per cent of people who had been hospitalised in England had received two doses of the COVID vaccination. That's just three people. So, I'll just break that down, that data, to help with the context of my next questions. Data up to 3 June showed that, out of 12,383 cases in England of the delta variant, 126 people were admitted to hospital, and of those 126 people, just three people had received two doses of the vaccine. So, I'm sure that the Minister will agree that this is positive data and that gives us optimism, I think, in that regard. In that context, Minister, have you investigated yourself that same data for Wales, or has Public Health Wales investigated that? How many people have been hospitalised as a result of having the delta variant? Of those people, how many people have had two doses? This is important information in the context of either relaxing restrictions or increasing restrictions, as appropriate. So, I would be grateful for any information on that, Minister.

Perhaps you could expand a bit more on your assessment in regards to whether we will require further restrictions over the summer months or, indeed, whether you can relax further restrictions. To have any further outline of that today would also be helpful. I also note from your comments yesterday, Minister, that the questions on the delta variant would be on how big the third wave will be. I would suggest that, perhaps, the question is surely how severe the next wave will be. So, I would appreciate your thoughts on that.

In Wales, we have seen 123 hospitalisations on 3 and 4 June. That's, of course, the lowest that we've seen since the beginning of the pandemic. Are you more confident that a third wave, while it may be bigger, won't be as severe as the first wave? You talked yesterday in your comments about the flow of the variant from England into Wales. In that context, perhaps you could also talk about whether you are considering any further travel bans from certain local authority areas elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

Your statement today referred to your plans for £100 million of investment to kick start the healthcare system. I think that that's very welcome as well. We are at a point where the Welsh NHS is starting to resume its services to tackle the massive backlog in treatment, although it is still staggering to think that one in three patient pathways are waiting over a year for treatment in Wales. That compares to one in 11 in England. So, we've got a challenge to start from.

But, I do welcome that announcement of £100 million for technological advances to help reduce the backlog. I am concerned about the growing anxiety from professionals. They are saying that there simply aren't enough staff to cope. For example, in Wales, we were already facing a severe shortage of cancer specialists before COVID-19, with clinical radiology gaps of above 40 per cent in west and north Wales. We already had fewer numbers of clinical radiologists in the UK per 100,000. The point I am making here is that it's welcome news that we've got that investment, but surely there is a concern if we don't have the staff and health professionals to operate that new technology.

So, as part of your new priorities, what efforts are you making to ensure that the NHS will have a sufficient workforce to cope with the backlogs? What frameworks will you be using as part of the workforce strategy to recruit and retain medical professionals? Also, what measures are you immediately carrying forward from the COVID recovery framework to support NHS and primary care workforces to ensure that they do not face burnout—another significant issue as well? How will you be strengthening existing well-being support available to the workforce, as outlined in the framework, and is support already being targeted in the short term? Diolch yn fawr.

Thanks very much, Russell, and thank you first of all for recognising the incredible efforts that have been made by everybody who has been involved in the vaccine roll-out. I think that we do need to pay tribute to those people who have really made the right calls at the right time throughout that process. I know it was a little bit hairy for my predecessor in the first couple of weeks, but I think that the fact that we made those correct calls right at the beginning has brought us to this point, and I would also like to pay tribute to the Welsh public for responding so readily. The fact that people are so enthusiastic to come forward and to receive their vaccination is something that I think we should be very pleased about.

You’re absolutely right: one of the things that we need to analyse now is whether that vaccination programme has managed to break the link between the incidence of the virus and hospitalisation. Now, early analysis and that early analysis of the data is looking very positive, but we’re still very much in the early days of just analysing how many people. At the moment, there actually are still very few cases of that delta variant, but it is growing exponentially, and so I think those extra two weeks for us to analyse that data was the right call for the Cabinet to make in phasing these restrictions that we made last week.

Certainly, at the moment, I think there’s only one case of the delta variant in a hospital in Wales. Two were previously in hospital and have been released. We are expecting a third wave and, you’re absolutely right, if this delta variant is as contagious as it has been described—maybe 40 per cent to 50 per cent higher than the alpha variant, which is a significant increase—then we are likely to see a lot more cases. So, that is something that we need to keep an eye on. The question, as you say, is: will that lead to hospitalisation? So, we have to be very, very careful, and we’re not out of the woods on this yet, which is why we will take things cautiously and carefully and try and analyse the data in real time.

You asked about the flow of the variant from England into Wales, and you will be aware of how porous the nature of our border is with England. We did this in the past, but actually what we did find was that there are so many people who live on our borders who have a very valid reason to cross that border that actually trying to close the border is very, very difficult in any meaningful way, so we think there will be very difficult, practical issues in terms of closing that border.

There is a huge challenge—no question about it—when it come to waiting lists in Wales. You will have seen that not only did I announce the £100 million additional funding, but also last week I announced £25 million funding for computerised tomography scanners, for better imaging equipment, and when I visited the hospital in Swansea last week, that was one of the questions that was very important to me: is there any point spending on capital if we don’t have the people who are going to be able to analyse the information? I think we’ve got to be creative. I think there are ways of being able to use people even remotely to analyse the data, to analyse the imaging, and so I’m hoping that that will help things. But also, you may be aware that we have a very specific training system for imaging in Wales, for training those people in Wales, to try and make up for what is a difficult situation in terms of numbers of people who are able to work in that radiology space. It’s not an issue that’s just true for Wales; it’s true certainly across the rest of the United Kingdom in terms of finding those experts.

And when it comes to primary care, we are very aware that there are people on the front line in primary care who have been working flat out throughout the pandemic. It seems to be that the intensity of the work seems to be building now, although they have been working throughout the pandemic. We have put in a lot of support for people within the NHS, particularly to support them in terms of mental health support and well-being support. We’ve produced £1 million specifically for health professional support. So, that is working very well, and the feedback we’re getting from the sector is excellent.

Thank you for the statement, Minister. Clearly, the growth in the delta variant is a cause of concern, so I have three or four questions specifically in response to that. There is evidence that one dose of the vaccine is less effective in guarding against that variant. So, despite how excellent the process is going, with less than 50 per cent of the population over 16 having received two doses, can we have not only confirmation that the process of vaccination will be hastened in those areas where the delta variant is most prominent, but can we also have clear indicators in place so that we know how much more vaccination we expect to happen, and within what kind of time frame?

To push further on some of the points already raised in terms of the mobility of the population within these islands, in his press conference last Friday, the First Minister said that there wasn't evidence that the delta variant was coming in to Wales from other parts of the UK. We now know that it is. Can the Minister confirm that first, and, crucially, can she tell us what will be done and when? What will the triggers be in order to prevent the spread from one area to another? And this isn't an England-Wales issue, of course; it could be preventing spread from one part of Wales to another part of Wales or between the various nations of the UK.

We know that there are new restrictions, from today onwards, on travel from Portugal because of concerns about the variant, but it's not just international travel that's the problem here. The UK Government has today encouraged people not to travel in and out of areas such as Greater Manchester and Lancashire. So, doesn't the Conwy experience demonstrate that we need to put actions in place? You said the porous border makes it very difficult to close the border, but there are many things that you could be doing that fall a long way short of closing the border. You could ask for test results before someone can go to holiday accommodation, for example. If we are to safeguard public health and limit the impact on the economy and tourism, then we need to know that the Government is willing to act swiftly and in a way that it is as focused as possible, so that we can hopefully get back to normal as soon as possible.

Thank you very much. You are right to say that one dose appears to be less effective than two doses in terms of protecting us from the delta variant. We are very aware, therefore, particularly in some areas where the variant is coming to the fore, that we need to accelerate the process. I spoke to the chief executive of Betsi Cadwaladr a few hours ago just to ask, in that area, whether it would be possible to do that. Of course, we are coming to the end of the point now where we have offered the first dose regardless. There is an expectation for the first dose to have been offered to everyone in the north by the end of this week, and then, of course, it will be possible for us to focus on that second dose. It also depends,  of course, on the supply that we receive from England. We have said clearly now that we hope to vaccinate everyone over 18 with both doses by the end of September. So, there is a new target that we have put in place, and I'm very hopeful that we'll will be able to meet that target.

In terms of asking people not to move around, I was very pleased to see that the United Kingdom Government had asked those people, in those areas where the delta variant was more prominent—that they had asked them not to travel. We had been calling on the Prime Minister to do that. And we've also asked people, if they do come into Wales, to take a test before they travel. So, we have already made that statement. Now, how do we demonstrate that? It's quite a job to ask people to police that before they come, but we have asked people to do that, so that we can safeguard people, particularly in those areas where there is a great deal of tourism.

Minister for Health and Social Services, may I warmly, firstly, welcome your appointment on behalf of the people of Islwyn? Your statement today is informative on where Wales stands in this pandemic, and Wales is recognised as the world leader amongst countries over 1 million inhabitants for its vaccination programme. One of my pledges to the people of Islwyn in the election was that every Islwyn adult would be offered a dose of the vaccination by 31 July. Minister, your statement confirms that Wales shall hit that target early next week, six weeks in advance of the target date, and you rightly reaffirmed that we must monitor the data to see the impact that the 40 per cent more transmissible delta variant will have in terms of the hospitalisation and deaths. The people of Islwyn are deeply appreciative of how the Welsh Labour Government and our First Minister have kept Wales safe. So, Minister, how can you assure the citizens of Islwyn that the Welsh Labour Government will continue its strategic and careful approach to responding to this deadly virus?

Diolch yn fawr, Rhianon. Not only will we meet the target, we're going to smash the target, and so we are very proud of that situation. By next week, we will have offered all adults over 18 the opportunity to have the first dose of the vaccine. We will continue in the same vein as we have acted throughout the pandemic, and that is to act on the basis of evidence and data, taking advice from scientists and experts and responding, whilst balancing out and taking into account all of the different harms. We recognise that there is the harm from the virus itself, but there are lots of other harms that we need to take into account as well, including economic harms, well-being harms, mental health harms. All of those things are things that we take into consideration at every point when we are deciding whether to relax restrictions or not. We will continue in that same vein. Diolch.

Thank you, Minister, for your update. We've heard in the Chamber today and seen reported both in local and national media the tragic stories of people of all ages waiting for referrals, diagnostics and treatment due to the delays caused by COVID-19. In many cases, these ailments are easily treated in early stages, but as time progresses, they get harder and harder to treat effectively. Due to COVID-19, the waiting lists for treatments are longer than ever before, and there are individuals out there suffering in pain and living off strong painkillers. People's basic quality of life is deteriorating whilst they wait for treatment, with some illnesses progressing to an untreatable stage. Minister, this cannot be allowed to continue. We cannot let these people, especially the young, who have their whole lives ahead of them, die from diseases and cancers that would be treatable if diagnosed at an early stage. So, Minister, can you tell me, as we're rolling out the vaccine programme, when is this backlog going to be tackled before this becomes the next national emergency and people can start to be treated in our hospitals? Diolch, Llywydd.

Thank you very much, James, and welcome to the Senedd.

Certainly, I am very aware of the fact that we have literally hundreds of thousands of people in Wales who are waiting for treatment on the NHS. We are, unfortunately, in this very, very difficult situation where, I think, people generally are fairly understanding that we had a crisis, and we've had to respond to that crisis, and that crisis continues. We can't still go back to normal practice. We have to understand that if we saw a case of the delta variant getting into a hospital, there could be very tragic consequences. So, we cannot go back to a normal situation yet, but we are trying to see what we can do to speed up the process to try and get things back into a situation where we can start to clear that backlog. We've already committed to the fact that we will be spending £1 billion in the next few years of additional funding to try and do something to tackle this backlog. We've announced an extra £100 million already so we can start on that process; that £25 million for equipment, for diagnosis, is also something that we hope will try and speed up the process. But this is going to take a long time, and I think it is important that we manage the expectations of the Welsh public when it comes to treatment. But I am very concerned about the pain and discomfort that people are suffering across Wales.

I'm pleased to hear that you've said that you recommend that those travelling to Wales should be tested, but I don't know many people in Manchester who look at news provided by BBC Wales, so I'm not sure how they're supposed to learn about those recommendations. But the fact is, unlike what the First Minister said on Friday, namely that the delta variant had come into Wales via the air, and to Llandudno particularly, we know for a fact now that that certainly isn't the case as far as my constituency is concerned. There have been cases discovered in Porthmadog, and this is the response I got from Gwynedd public protection last week: 'I can confirm that the public protection service hasn't identified any direct link between the cluster of COVID cases in the Porthmadog area and foreign travel.' Therefore, it has come in from these islands.

You talked about closing the borders. Nobody else has mentioned closing the borders, but we do need to see this situation managed. So, what steps are you going to take to ensure that the variant doesn't travel further and isn't disseminated further? We know that the Scottish Government is recommending that people don't travel to these areas identified as hotspots. Internal travel within these nations isn't just one-way to north Wales. There are many people from north Wales who travel to work in Stockport, in Bolton and those areas, so we need to manage this. You're done this with Portugal, where the cases are a little under 40 per 100,000 population. In Bolton, it's 355 per 100,000 population; it's 487 in Blackburn. We need to control that, and we need to ensure that people working there will be compensated because they can't go to work, hopefully, and we need to manage the flow of people in order to ensure that this variant doesn't travel further.

Thank you very much, and welcome to the Senedd to you too, Mabon. Certainly, I think that it is important to understand how impractical it would be for us to close our borders, but having said that, I have already tried to demonstrate what we're doing in practical terms to ask people to take the steps that we want them to take before they come to our nation: to take a test before they travel, but also to comply with the rules that we have here. A great deal of work has been done by our hotels and those people who work in our pubs and so on to ask people—we have something called Addo, and the idea is that we let people know what our expectations are of them if they come to Wales, what we expect them to comply with once they arrive in Wales. So, a great deal of work has gone into that scheme, that marketing has taken place, not just in Wales, but beyond our borders too. Of course, it's difficult for us to reach everyone, but that is what we're trying to do.

Certainly, in terms of Portugal, the Welsh Government was supportive of placing Portugal on the amber list, and one of the reasons for that was because there was a new variant in Portugal that comes from Nepal, and we don't yet know whether that variant will respond to the vaccine. So, it's not just a question of the numbers; we were concerned about that new variant too.

I just wanted to thank the Minister for her statement and ask a question about GP appointments. At the moment, GP appointments are by phone or video unless there's a clinical need for a face-to-face consultation, and figures from BMA Cymru have recently shown that GPs have faced 18 per cent higher rates of appointments than the pre-COVID levels. Some of these remote consultations will take a lot longer than a face-to-face consultation, doctors might need to ask patients many more questions than they would in person, and remote consultations can often be quite difficult for some people to access as well—people without broadband or telephone signal, for example. However, it does work for some people. So, can I ask what the Welsh Government strategy is, going forward, to provide both methods of appointments and to increase the availability of both, going forward?

Thank you, Tom, and welcome to the Senedd.

Certainly, I'm very aware that there are many people who are struggling to get GP appointments at the moment, at least in the traditional way, and part of what we need to do, I think, in response to the pandemic, is to take the good bits that we've learnt from the pandemic. I think that, actually, there's a lot to be said for remote consultation. Certainly, I represent Mid and West Wales; I'm delighted that I will be able to connect with my constituents in a very different way, and frankly see them more often than if I were just in a situation where I had to see people face to face. So, I think there are some real wins for us that we need to embed as a result of the pandemic, and certainly, using technology is something that I think we should embrace. Having said that, of course, there will always be occasions when people need to see a GP face to face. Part of what needs to be done, of course, is to make sure that the triaging that is done within the practice is done effectively, and that people are guided to the appropriate place for them to get some support. 

I think we do have to try and get people to understand that, actually, they can get a lot of support not necessarily just from the GP. And I think, if you're ill, surely the thing that's important is that you get the support and you get it fixed, not necessarily who you see to get it fixed. And I do think that we need to really try and have a discussion around this and to see a culture shift in the way that expectations are managed going forward in terms of the way we access our health services in Wales in future. 

I am particularly taken, for example, with the eConsult system, the fact that you can actually just go through a whole list of questions and get an answer and get a prescription pretty quickly without really spending a lot of time on a face-to-face consultation. So, I think there are positives, but we do need to make sure that there's kind of a minimum service guarantee, which is what I've been looking at and discussing this morning with the director general, about what is the minimum that the public can expect here, because, obviously, there are cases where we need the service that's being given and being offered to be improved. 

I'd like to offer my congratulations to the Minister in her new role, and I look forward to working with you positively over the next few years. Now, much has been said today about how we find ourselves in a much better place than we did, say 12 months ago, and we've put that down to the work of Welsh Government, the UK Government, our fantastic health staff, and indeed, our Welsh public; well, the majority of them. I still have people within my own constituency e-mailing me quite regularly who just do not see the need for vaccinations, or indeed believe that this pandemic is for real, and that is quite worrying. 

I'm very worried also about the numbers increased of the delta variant in my own constituency. So, I've joined Public Health Wales, Conwy County Borough Council, and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to urge people to go for tests, especially in those areas like Llandudno and Llandudno Junction and Penrhyn Bay, to be alert for coronavirus symptoms and to take a test as soon as possible even if they are not showing symptoms. 

But I would be pleased to hear from you today, Minister, an update on the numbers confirmed. I spoke with Public Health Wales a week ago, and I am quite concerned to have a real picture of what's happening in my own constituency. I've been trying to establish whether the variant is spreading via particular settings. That information would be quite useful, because, according to the health board, investigations are ongoing and a number of different settings are being looked at. I'm concerned that the testing strategy of targeting the Llandudno area itself is deeply flawed. Twenty-two thousand-ish people live in Llandudno; however, that can swell to about 60,000 at this time of the year. So, already, we are seeing the area expanding to include Rhos-on-Sea, Colwyn Bay, Old Colwyn and Deganwy. However, Llandudno is a leading seaside resort and it is a main shopping centre that attracts people from the whole of north Wales.

So, will you consider liaising with the health board to look at encouraging all residents in Aberconwy to get tested now even if they're not showing symptoms? I would certainly hope that such decisive action would help us to get a grip on the spread, especially, as has been said here, as the delta variant is 40 per cent more transmissible than the Kent strain. 

And, finally, last night, just as I'd arrived in Cardiff, I was contacted by a local hotelier who had been informed by a guest who had returned home that they had tested positive 24 hours after returning home. So, they were in a right panic; they had guests in their hotel. So, I gave them as many numbers and possible agencies they could contact, only for them to come back and say, 'All we've been told now is someone will contact us at 8 a.m. in the morning.' Whether you could look at better advice going out for those especially in the hospitality industry. There's been an 84 per cent increase of delta cases. So I was just wondering whether you could look at working with Betsi Cadwaladr to make sure that the information required at, sometimes, a very late hour—I think it was about 9 o'clock last night, and I know that I was still in conversation with my constituent, who's a hotelier, at 10.45 last night, and they were very panic-stricken for the sake of the guests there and indeed their own family. Thank you.

Thanks, Janet. And first of all, can I thank you for everything you're doing, because actually I think it's really important that Senedd Members take a leadership role in asking people to come forward in these instances? So, thanks very much for that, and if you could continue to encourage people in that area, irrespective of whether they're showing symptoms or not, to come forward, that would be extremely useful. We know that about 30 per cent of cases don't show any symptoms at all, so it is important that people get tested, and you will be aware of where they can go to get tested. So, if you could help us with that, that would be useful.

There are about 178 confirmed cases now, across Wales. Certainly on the weekend, there were about 58 cases or so in the Llandudno area, and we were just waiting to get clarification on how many of those were 'definites', because we needed to do the genomic sequencing. So, that will be done very shortly, so there were lots of 'possibles' and 'probables', and that will be locked in in the next few hours, probably.

Certainly, I know that Public Health Wales is working around the clock on this, and so are the test, trace, protect team. If you find that that is not the case, then I'd be very happy if you could write to me, let me know the details, and then we can see. Because you're absolutely right—I can't imagine the trauma that that hotel owner must have been going through, and we need to make sure that at least there's a very clear system to go through, so that they know what to expect and what to do.

I thank the Minister for that statement.