7. What assessment has the First Minister made of the progress of the North Wales growth deal? OQ56839

Our assessment, Llywydd, is that good progress is being made by the portfolio office of the north Wales growth deal in moving forward into the delivery phase of the deal. Several business cases have now been drafted and presented to the North Wales Economic Ambition Board for their approval.

Thank you, First Minister, for your answer. We all know how important the north Wales growth deal is to the region. I'd like to welcome the work across Governments, with local authorities and other bodies, in seeing this progress that we all seek for the region.

One of the projects, and an important project amongst many, is a project to further develop the port at Holyhead. And you'll know the importance of this in terms of its opportunity to bring prosperity to the region, as well as developing that economic relationship with Ireland. Of course, with complex projects there can be challenges at times in terms of delivery. So, would you, First Minister, commit to working with stakeholders in order to provide continued certainty and appropriate support to ensure this particular project is delivered as quickly as possible?

Well, Llywydd, I thank the Member for that. Of course, I am aware that the Holyhead gateway project is part of the land and property theme of the growth deal, and we do take a direct and continuing interest in it. The Member will be aware of the significant challenges that there are for Welsh ports as a result of the Northern Ireland protocol, and we continue to raise these matters with colleagues in the UK Government as well. Until some of those matters are properly resolved, then the current levels of trade through Holyhead will not recover to the levels that we saw prior to the agreement of the terms on which we've left the European Union. So, I agree with what the Member said: it is a complex project, and one that has become all the more complex because of the context in which it now operates.

I thank the First Minister.