I notice the Government hasn't made any amendments to this motion today; I understand that, because the motion in front of us is quite straightforward, isn't it? It's a simple, 'Do you agree or not with the statement?' It's been a year since the Welsh Conservatives first called for an independent public inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales, and for over a year, the Welsh Government have resisted that request, but that request has not only come from us as Welsh Conservatives, it's come from others across this Senedd and this request has also come from health professionals and health bodies throughout Wales as well.

The pandemic has sadly seen nearly 8,000 people die in Wales from COVID-19, and the effects, of course—I'm sure we can all agree—have been devastating for those families affected and for communities across Wales. The effects of course are considerable. That's not a powerful enough word, is it, really? It's such a significant issue when you lose someone close to you. This is a significant issue for the people of Wales.

From April 2020, the First Minister has made it clear that different decisions would be made if it was in the interests of Wales and this is a mantra that the First Minister's made several times; he keeps repeating this statement, yet he and the Government here are not willing for there to be a Wales-wide specific inquiry; they are simply happy that there's a footnote or some chapters in a UK-wide inquiry, which is unlikely to go into any kind of detail into the Welsh Government's role in any kind of depth.

There are, I would say, as well—. I asked myself in regard to this debate, 'Why is the Welsh Government so reluctant to support a Welsh-only public inquiry?' Is it about blame? Because it shouldn't be, should it? A public inquiry shines a spotlight on good and bad practice. I think the UK nations can learn from each other how they've handled the pandemic, sharing that good and bad practice and other countries around the world can also look at the public inquiries that are taking place here in the UK and across the UK. In terms of good practice, I would expect that any public inquiry at a UK level and any Welsh-specific public inquiry would shine a positive light, for example, on the handling of the vaccination programme and how it's been conducted; allow other countries around the world to look in at the positive vaccination programme that we've got here in Wales; a spotlight on how the UK nations have dealt with the pandemic differently and taken different decisions. So, a public inquiry is surely about learning lessons, in case—heaven forbid—we have a further pandemic, or a variant which brings back a situation that we would not want to see. But a public inquiry would also show how decisions were taken by Ministers. In retrospect, I think we can probably say Ministers across the UK nations have made mistakes, but a public inquiry would examine, 'Did those Ministers make those decisions correctly, based on the information that they had from professionals at that time?'

There just seems to be an avoidance of scrutiny, and there are a number of issues that do need to be examined. I've pointed to some good examples, but there are some examples that need to be questioned. The Welsh Government, I think, must answer some serious questions on hospital-acquired COVID-19 infections during the pandemic and show that lessons have indeed been learnt. We've heard lessons have been learnt, but a public inquiry can demonstrate that. We know that 1,806 people—that's roughly one in four people—who died from COVID-19 probably or definitely caught COVID-19 from hospital wards. In Hywel Dda, that data is one in three. Wales has the highest death toll of the whole of the UK nations with a rate of 249.5 deaths per 100,000 people. The Welsh Government throughout reports of ward-to-ward transmissions has said lessons are going to be learned, but I look at this, and I look at what the health Minister said last week, that these deaths would be investigated—well, we haven't had any detail yet. Who is going to carry out the investigations? How will the investigations be conducted in the absence of any—? This information might come about, I accept that—[Interruption.] No, I totally accept that the Minister might provide that detail; I totally accept that. But if these kinds of questions do not come forward, then a public inquiry will get to the bottom and give families the answers that they might want, and I would expect them to want.

Now, the First Minister says that he would prefer a UK-wide inquiry, but, throughout the pandemic, throughout Brexit, throughout other national situations, the Welsh Government has routinely complained that Wales's voice has not been heard in the union. By not having a Wales-wide public inquiry, the Welsh Government is effectively reducing its voice in the union, so I do hope that Members will contribute to this debate this afternoon meaningfully, and I hope that we'll get a meaningful response this afternoon, I hope, as well from the Minister, as she responds to this debate this afternoon. Diolch yn fawr.