Thank you, Deputy Minister, for today's statement. Obviously, we are pleased to see a further commitment from the agreement between the Government and Plaid Cymru being realised, not just on paper but also delivering for the people of Wales. And for Plaid Cymru, free childcare for two-year-olds is an important first step in our vision for free childcare for all. It shows that we can do things differently here in Wales, and that, even with the powers that we have, we can put in place measures to give our children the best possible start while also implementing measures to tackle poverty. Certainly, these are important measures in terms of that.

In the wake of the cost-of-living crisis, this will provide a lifeline for many families, by eliminating costs and also by eliminating a barrier for parents who may wish to return to work. But this is only a starting point. The Welsh Government's progress on free childcare must be ambitious, and continue to be so, in order to ensure that as many children as possible in the coming years can benefit from childcare settings from a young age. We have to move as quickly as possible to make the policy a reality, and ultimately we would like to see free childcare provided to all children over the age of one, and I hope that we can agree that this should be the ultimate goal.

Alongside acceleration and expansion is the need to ensure that the expansion of Welsh-medium provision is central to this and that it is seen as a core part of today's statement—not as something separate or something that is happening alongside that, but something entirely central. This is the only way to ensure that every child in Wales has the opportunity to learn the two official languages ​​of our country and reach the target of a million Welsh speakers and ultimately increase the use of the language.

Of course, as you outlined in the statement, a major challenge is developing the workforce so that we can offer childcare services throughout Wales in the Welsh language, and it is good to see investment in this. Could I therefore press on the Deputy Minister to confirm today that expanding provision as a matter of urgency is a priority for the Government, and that the Welsh language is a central, rather than supplementary, part of these plans?