I am very pleased to contribute to this crucial debate as a member of the special purpose committee that has been working on the report that is the subject of today's debate. The committee's task was to look at the conclusions of previous reports on parliamentary reform and then to make recommendations for policy directions for legislation by the Government to reform the Senedd. The backdrop to this was the co-operation agreement between my party and the Welsh Government, which agreed to create a Senedd that is more aligned with our modern democracy.

On Sunday evening, I had the incredible privilege of watching the Welsh men's national football team reach the World Cup finals. The players and crowd were as one—confident, excited, and eagerly awaiting what the future holds. Today is also an important day in our nation's history. This is an opportunity for the Senedd to give its seal of approval to the committee's recommendations and take the first step on the journey to creating a larger Senedd and an equal Senedd. That would be an exciting step forward in terms of the growth of our democracy, in terms of creating a nation that has confidence in its own future, a nation that is becoming more and more eager to take control for the benefit of all who live here.

The Senedd has made great strides over the last 20 years with its powers having greatly increased in terms of legislating and tax setting. The next sensible step is to increase the size of the Senedd and move us closer to the size of other similar Parliaments around the world. There is no doubt in my mind that the COVID period has convinced the people of Wales of the value of having a strong Parliament that can plough its own furrow in respect of important policies, and support was garnered for the cautious approach of the Government elected by the people of Wales to the health crisis, and there was a realisation that our Senedd is important. More and more of our constituents were turning to us as Members of the Senedd for help and information during the pandemic, as more and more of them realised—some for the first time—that the Senedd has discrete powers and that we use them in a different and better way than the Parliament at Westminster. That creates a new backdrop for the reform that is afoot, and people will welcome the move to a larger Senedd, a strong Senedd, with enough Members to scrutinise and challenge and hold our country's Government to account on the issues that matter in the lives of our citizens.

I mentioned that today is an exciting day for our nation. I am extremely excited about the recommendation to create mandatory gender quotas as an integral part of our electoral system. Establishing gender equality has been one of my political priorities over the years, and that's one of the reasons why I decided to try to become a Member of the Senedd six years ago, because I believed that we needed many more women in influential roles in public life. I also believe that we cannot reach gender equality at the speed required without direct intervention and without specific mechanisms to achieve equality.

For some years now, I have been chairing the Senedd's cross-party group on women. Over the past few months, the group has been making the case for gender quotas. We've held a series of meetings with experts from around the world, and the evidence clearly shows that creating quotas is an effective way of increasing the representation of women rapidly. I want to pay tribute to all of the organisations that have attended our meetings and have campaigned passionately for quotas. There is now strong support from three of the parties in the Senedd for the concept of gender quotas, and I'm very, very pleased and proud of that. [Interruption.] There is no time now. 

In passing this motion today, the committee passes the baton of this journey to the Government. The committee's work is done. We are very grateful to the team who worked so diligently with us. We now need intensive and rapid work to get this all done in time for the next Senedd election. There will be an opportunity to discuss and refine as the legislation enters its journey. Today, we take pride in being at the outset of a historic journey during the lifetime of this Senedd, to create a strong and equal Senedd. We must eagerly grasp this special opportunity. We must not miss the opportunity and we must make this important change for the benefit of the people of Wales.