I'd just like to start by thanking the whole Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee—it's quite a mouthful—for their hard work and for undertaking this review, for the report, and its recommendations. I was personally delighted that you undertook this review, as this is a body of work that needed to be done, and, as chairman of the cross-party group on sport, it will complement the review that we ourselves are undertaking into the state of sporting facilities in Wales.

The report has unearthed some of the issues that we are also hearing in our CPG review, that there are multiple barriers that prevent those from disadvantaged areas from participating in sport and physical activity, and in many areas across Wales, including, as my colleague Tom Giffard has already said, suitable facilities, a lack of safe spaces, reductions in time allocated for sport, and a lack of disabled facilities. Wales, having participated in their first world cup for many years, which makes us all so proud, got there despite the lack of investment by the Welsh Government over the last two decades, not because of that support. It is nothing short of a national embarrassment to see the current state of many of our facilities in Wales, the unfairness of how investment hasn't been equal to all corners of Wales, and the dire lack of investment into our grass-roots sport.

Things are starting to happen, and I welcome that investment wholeheartedly, but it's small fry when you look at the financial investment into sport and facilities across the rest of the UK. We all know the enormous health benefits, both physically and mentally, that physical exercise brings, as well as a multitude of other benefits. A study commissioned by Sport Wales, undertaken by Sheffield Hallam University, said there is a massive social return on the investment, as, for every £1 invested in sport in Wales, there is a return of £2.88. Whether it be finally ensuring north Wales has that all-important Olympic-sized swimming pool, stadiums, or ensuring that sport doesn't grind to a halt in rural areas at the first sign of bad weather due to a lack of all-weather facilities—a massive barrier to participation during the winter months—now is the time for action. Demand is high, particularly following major sporting events like the world cup. Now we need to match that with investment. We all know that times are hard and money is short, but, with increasing demands on our health service, surely we need to start investing in prevention, as prevention is better than cure, and invest in our future generations, invest in everyone. 

We've seen the FAW make a good start with this, as Tom outlined, but we need this awareness and investment across the board for all sports throughout all parts of Wales. I know the Minister is here today to respond to this debate and I, like many others, would appreciate a concrete commitment today ensuring that money or the wrong postcode won't mean another generation of Welsh people missing out on sport and physical activity opportunities that they can enjoy across the border. We must do better here in Wales. We have a Deputy Minister who appreciates sport, sees and knows the benefits, and I hope that this report will now kick start that large-scale investment that Wales needs to be made to finally ensure not that we just find, develop and retain future sports stars in Wales but ensure that everyone can have access in all parts of Wales, rural areas as well as cities, to sports across Wales, and importantly at all times of the year. Diolch.