8. Will the First Minister outline how the Welsh Government is promoting sport in Wales? OQ58845

Llywydd, the health, social and economic value of sport is widely recognised, which is why we are investing more than £75 million over the next three years, through Sport Wales, to deliver on our shared aims and objectives.

First Minister, yesterday a collective sigh of relief was felt across the men's professional game of rugby here in Wales, not due to Warren Gatland's return as Welsh head coach, but because a six-year framework for professional rugby in Wales was verbally agreed. On Sunday, the Welsh Rugby Players Association released a statement expressing concern as player well-being was being severely impacted by delays to a long-term agreement, with some Welsh players already signing for clubs outside of Wales to ensure some job security.

The financial state of rugby is in a perilous position. Across Offa's Dyke, we've seen both Wasps and Worcester placed into administration and cease trading. Parking to one side the governance structure of the Welsh Rugby Union, which Sam Warburton said was 'stuck in the Stone Age', rugby in Wales, both the community and professional game, is in a nervous position. Given the Welsh Government negotiated a £20 million loan to Wales's four regions, what is the Welsh Government doing to ensure that repaying these loans won't leave some of Wales's regions going the way of either Wasps or Worcester?

Llywydd, just to be clear, for accuracy, the loan of the Welsh Government was £18 million, and it was with the Welsh Rugby Union, not with the regions. The way that the money is used is for the Welsh Rugby Union to determine, and they are responsible for making sure that the loan repayments are made. It was a matter of serious debate within the Welsh Government as to whether or not it was legitimate for us to step in to allow the WRU to buy out the loan that they previously had with Nat West. In the end, the decision to do so was motivated by much of what Sam Kurtz has said here this afternoon—the importance of the game here in Wales and our commitment to sustaining it.

But the need for reform in the game itself is real, and the Government cannot be a banker of last resort that is used to prevent the game from carrying out the necessary actions that it itself has to undertake and for which it is responsible. Now, I welcome the appointment of Ieuan Evans as the new chair of the WRU. The Welsh Government is always happy to work alongside the union and to be helpful to them where we can. But that cannot be a reason for them stepping aside from some of the very serious thinking that the game has to do. And that isn't just structural, Llywydd, and it isn't even in the relationship between the regions and the union and so on, but it's in things like head injuries, the future of the game, making sure it's attractive for young people to want to play it. The game has some very serious issues in front of it. We are there to support them where we can, and the £18 million was a very serious sign of that support. That cannot excuse the game from the serious work that it itself needs to carry out.

Thank you, First Minister.