Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:34 pm on 30 March 2022.
Thank you to Plaid. Diolch, Llywydd. Thank you, Plaid Cymru, for tabling this debate today. At heart, there is only one point that we disagree on, and that's your insistence that it is the UK Government that provides all the funding to repurpose, reclaim and remediate these coal tips.
I'm sure my colleagues on those benches there have actually read the recently published report on regulating coal tip safety in Wales, and it does clearly state that coal tip safety falls under devolved competence, and that's a competence that you've had here for 22 years. So, isn't it ironic that whilst, in this debate, Plaid Cymru are calling on the UK Government to pay for a devolved responsibility, in others, Rhys ab Owen bemoans the fact that the UK Government legislates on other devolved matters. Rhun—my colleague Rhun from north Wales—ap Iorwerth, is seeking the full devolution of the management of the Crown Estate and its assets in Wales, and the leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price, is pursuing an economically unfeasible independent Wales.