Thank you to Russell George for tabling this important debate this afternoon. At the outset, I want to emphasise that we on these benches and, I know, those on the opposite benches too are friends of the air ambulance. We approach this issue as critical friends, and the reason for that is because this excellent charity and the wonderful service that it provides are so crucially important to Dwyfor Meirionnydd and other communities in north and mid Wales. I've held public meetings in Porthmadog, Towyn and Pwllheli, and the hundreds of people who have attended those meetings and discussed their own personal stories and experiences are testament to the invaluable service provided.

Let us not forget that the air ambulance came to north Wales following a campaign by Nia Evans from Dolgellau following an appalling road accident that she and her fiancé at the time, Kieron Wilkes, suffered near Harlech in 2002. The sadness is that Mr Wilkes lost his life in the accident, but Nia was saved after the police air ambulance took her to Ysbyty Gwynedd. She successfully petitioned to have an air ambulance centre in north Wales. So, consider the Harlech area, or indeed Llangrannog or Llangynog; they are remote, rural areas, a long way from all core services. Since then, the charity has proved to be one of the most popular in north and mid Wales, with our rural communities raising hundreds of thousands of pounds, as we've heard already, for the charity, because they understand the value of the service.

I had the privilege of going to Dinas Dinlle to speak to the workforce and the doctors there last year, and the whole thing is quite incredible. The glory of the Dinas Dinlle site is that it's just a stone's throw from Ysbyty Gwynedd, which means that the workforce there can improve their medical skills in the hospital too, which of course enhances the experience of all.

Although the air ambulance is its name, it is far more than that in reality. It's not a service that just carries patients; it's a small airborne hospital or one on four wheels, with talented, committed people being able to reach the most remote areas to save lives on the spot. Because there's more to the air ambulance than a helicopter.

The most important element, of course, are the medics who are part of the team, but the rapid response vehicles, the RRVs, are also a core element. For those of you who know Dwyfor and Meirionnydd, you will know, despite the incredible beauty of the constituency, the sea, the lakes and the rivers do often leave us in a blanket of fog and mist, and when this happens, the helicopters can't land and we are reliant on the rapid responsive vehicles that are part of the charity's service. Now, if the service was centred in Rhuddlan, how quickly do you think a rapid response vehicle could reach from there to somewhere such as Anelog at the far end of the Llŷn peninsula, or Llanymawddwy? It would take hours. It would be impossible for them to get to any of these places in time. So, despite the fact that computer modelling suggests that more lives could be saved, the truth is that our coastal and rural communities will suffer.

That brings me to my final point: I want the Government here to give us an assurance that they have full confidence in the Optima modelling programme that's been used to justify these recommendations. These are the Welsh Government's health figures that are being inputted, and EMRTS is making the assessment, so the Government can't wash its hands of this. Because, as I understand it, the figures focus on the number of incidents that can be reached, as Russ mentioned earlier, but without taking account of whether these are the most serious incidents, because Optima is drawn up for ambulances in more general contexts, not for the needs of an air ambulance covering a large rural area.

To conclude, therefore, this service has proven itself to be crucial to our communities, and the recommendations made suggest that our rural communities will lose out. The people I represent and I are seeking assurances that we won't lose any level of service here, and that this isn't an exercise in reaching targets at the expense of the health and well-being of the people in my constituency. Thank you very much.