3. What benefits has the First Minister's trip to Qatar during the World Cup brought to Wales? OQ58862

Llywydd, the Welsh Government's presence at Qatar allowed us to amplify knowledge of Wales across the world and to speak up for the values that matter to us. Cultural and economic benefits will be among the products of that engagement.

Thank you, First Minister. The world cup has undoubtedly brought benefits through increasing the profile of Welsh football on the international stage, and I think we can all congratulate the Welsh team on their performance and look forward to one day seeing them—hopefully—in the world cup final. Despite our success, and I'm sure you will agree, it is with sadness that the competition took place in a country that has an appalling human rights record, particularly concerning the treatment of migrant workers and laws on homosexuality. You have received criticism for attending the world cup, and I do not wish to address that now, but I do fear that, if there is no follow-up action, then the opportunity will be forever lost to show how protecting workers' rights and having an inclusive culture can actually help improve everyone's life. I was delighted to hear that you have had those conversations already, but, with this in mind, and given what you have experienced—the conversations you've had and the contacts you have made in Qatar—what follow-up action are you now going to take with Qatari officials to promote the values and rights that we believe and hold dear in Wales? Thank you.

Well, Llywydd, I thank the Member for that further question. Let me give him two examples of ways in which we will want to follow up our presence at the world cup in the areas that he mentions. So, I said in my original answer that there would be cultural follow-up to the visit. I was able to visit the Museum of Islamic Art while I was in Qatar. It's a most fantastic museum, and one of the most striking things about it is that it is run, at a senior level, almost exclusively by women, and that is undoubtedly unusual in Qatar. But the director general of the museum is a woman. Her two deputies were both women. And we want to do anything we can to encourage that sort of development. So, we will invite a group of young women educators involved in the museum service in Qatar to come to Wales in the summer of next year, and then we will have an exchange in return of young women from Wales visiting the museum service in Qatar. And that is a practical example of the way in which we can use the contacts that we've made and the platform that there is there now in order to advance some of the desirable outcomes that Joel James mentioned. 

As far as workers' rights are concerned, before going to Qatar I met with the International Trade Union Confederation and, while in Qatar, my colleague Vaughan Gething met with the International Labour Organization. Those are the two organisations that have come together on the ground to try to improve the rights of workers in that part of the world. They both said to us that progress had been made—not enough, not quickly enough and with anxieties about that progress being entrenched when the eyes of the world are no longer on Qatar.

One of the ways, the practical ways, in which we can help to make that happen is through the migrant worker centre that the FAW and others are trying to make sure is guaranteed to be in Qatar after the world cup moves away. We will support them in that because while new rights have been established, those rights are not relevant if people don't know about them or know how to make sure that they are realised in their own places of work. A migrant workers centre would be somewhere where incoming workers could go, could be sure they are fully armed with all the new rights that exist, would know what means of redress exist if those new rights are not realised, and somewhere to go back to if they need further help in the future. They are just two practical actions, Llywydd, that follow on from the decision to attend the world cup in Qatar, in what was always a difficult and closely balanced decision, that show that there will be genuine advances that we will continue to be able to assist with when the world cup itself is over.

Can I thank Joel James for bringing this question forward, and for his important supplementary? As Joel has said, we are all proud, aren't we, of our national team, both the men's and the women's, and the last six years of supporting Cymru have certainly been the very best of my lifetime, and I'm sure that's the same for many others here, albeit that mine might be a little shorter than others. [Laughter.] But that success doesn't happen by accident, Llywydd. It started with my childhood hero, Gary Speed, and, of course, in the Welsh women's team, Jayne Ludlow, and it continues with the current management now and the governance of Noel Mooney. But one of the legacies from this world cup, First Minister, has to be improved facilities.

I declare an interest, Llywydd: my local team, Connah's Quay Nomads Football Club, which I'm an ambassador for, had their game called off this weekend at Cymru Premier level. Just think how many games at grass-roots and children's level were the same. But, as we face the impact of austerity 2.0 from the United Kingdom Government, First Minister, do you agree with me that this will have an impact on football, and will you take every opportunity to remind the UK Tory Government that austerity does limit ambition and talent development in all walks of life, including pêl-droed?

Well, Llywydd, I absolutely agree with Jack Sargeant. One of the legacies of Wales's success in getting to the world cup final has to be in inspiring that new generation of young people to take part in sports of all kind, and if they're to do that, then investment in facilities is necessary. We work alongside the FAW, with significant investment through Sport Wales, both to invest in grass-roots football, but also to invest in other sports that we know are succeeding here in Wales.

Jack Sargeant can look forward to another year ahead, Llywydd, where Wales will be on that world stage. We will be in India for the Men's FIH Hockey World Cup final, and that's a huge thing. Hockey is an enormous sport in India—millions and millions of people across the world will see Wales again at a world cup final. Our women will be at the Netball World Cup final in South Africa later next year, and of course next year will be a year of the Rugby World Cup in France. So, Jack has been luckier than some of us in the time that he has been following Welsh sport, but the good news is that there's plenty more to come, and that should—as he said—be an inspiration to those young people across Wales to invest their time and their energy in pastimes in which we have seen such phenomenal success for Wales in recent times.