The coming days allow us to gather our thoughts and reflect on those who've served our nation over the years, and those who still serve today, keeping us safe. We will attend our remembrance services shortly, and we'll listen to the reading of the names from our cenotaphs and we'll try to picture those people who stood there before us and fell on behalf of us in the conflicts of years gone by. These poignant reminders ground us and bring us together with a sense of unity and sincere thankfulness. It is difficult to comprehend what it must have been like for those who made the ultimate sacrifice, especially in their last days and hours, and it's equally difficult to comprehend what many veterans are living with today, and our hearts go out to all of them.

Today, we think about those veterans, out in our communities, who carry the physical and mental scars of recent active service. We must do all we can to support those individuals like never before. Many live with haunting demons that PTSD brings with it. I've witnessed this first-hand, as the father of a young veteran. My son was a young soldier serving in Afghanistan when he was targeted by a suicide bomber on the streets surrounding Kabul. The armoured car he drove saved his life, but couldn't save him from the mental trauma that followed. He, like many thousands of others, struggled for years with a debilitating condition. My son was lucky that the Royal British Legion and other charities helped him in many ways and helped him climb out of that place he was in, and I will forever be grateful for those bodies.

But, sadly, there are so many veterans out there still needing specialist support that we must do all we can to find better ways to support them. We read in the news only a couple of days ago of the challenges facing ex-servicemen from as far back as the Falklands conflict, who still live haunted by their past experiences, but feel there isn't the support they really need. I'm sure there is a lot more we can do to help those who have stepped up for us, and I know all in this Chamber will want to make further progress to that end. In the recent autumn budget, it was good to see the announcement of funding for a Welsh veterans commissioner to improve the lives and opportunities of Welsh veterans in the community. I hope that our Minister can share how the Welsh Government has engaged with UK Government on this, and how the commissioner can help to oversee the delivery of the armed forces covenant in Wales.

I welcome some of the positive things that Welsh Government have been doing, as reported in the armed forces covenant annual report. We can all support the positive steps, like the Great Place to Work for Veterans scheme, and the support for the Veterans' NHS Wales service, with the additional funding recently announced by the Government. This has to be welcomed, as is the commitment to increased funding to the SSCE Cymru in support of service children in Wales, and also we support the great work of the armed forces liaison officers. However, the report also acknowledges several areas that could be improved and progressed, and I won't list those here, but I know all of us in this Chamber, from whatever party, will do all we can to support the Welsh Government to improve things where needed.

Deputy Llywydd, we are blessed to have the armed forces that we have, with servicemen and women of the highest order, totally dedicated to the people they serve. This has been demonstrated in spades over recent years, through times of disaster like flooding, and of course the past 18 months through the pandemic—one of the most difficult times in living memory. Our thanks go out to them all. It's reassuring to know they are always there when challenges present.

To conclude, in the coming days we will think of those who have gone before us and given so much, together with those who continue to live with the traumas of conflict and to those who are actively serving today. They are all in our thoughts, and we thank them all, present and past. Diolch.