English: As the older people's commissioner rightly states: 'Holding a Wales-specific Public Inquiry will ensure that the Chair and the panel running the Inquiry understand devolution and the cultural and political distinctiveness of Wales, as well as being representative of the diversity of our nation and accessible in a way that a UK-wide Inquiry may not be able to achieve.' That is why we must reject the Welsh Government's amendment to this debate and reject their stance on this issue. This Welsh Government took decisions that led us down a different path to England and resulted in one of the highest COVID death rates in the world. We had a Government led by a First Minister who refused for months to accept the evidence on face masks, despite evidence showing their effectiveness in combating the spread of SARS and MERS. The First Minister refused to introduce their use in Wales, and, when questioned, the First Minister said, 'They aren't at the bottom of my list, they aren't even on my list.' How many lives were lost as a result of the First Minister's reluctance to heed the evidence? The SARS-CoV-2 virus was allowed to spread largely unchecked, leading to larger numbers of cases needing hospital treatment, which in turn put pressure on health chiefs to move patients out of the NHS and into care homes. This is when the Welsh Government's biggest and most serious error of judgment came into play, by failing to test and quarantine patients before moving them into care homes. The Welsh Government allowed COVID-19 to spread unchecked into the care sector. How many care home sector residents and staff died as a result of this Government's failings? Their failings put our most vulnerable citizens at risk and no doubt contributed to the deaths of so many. Field hospitals were set up across the country and, rather than being used to keep vulnerable patients safe from the virus, they went largely unused. Patients with COVID were allowed to mix with vulnerable patients, allowing infections to spread relatively unchecked. One in four Welsh citizens who succumbed to the pandemic died of a COVID infection picked up in Welsh hospitals. The Welsh Government were responsible for decisions that led to this calamity, yet they are not prepared to accept the consequences of their decisions. Instead, they choose to hide behind a UK-wide inquiry, rather than facing an independent Wales-only inquiry - an inquiry that can only focus full-time upon the decisions taken by Welsh Ministers, upon actions that impacted Welsh citizens and upon learning Wales-focused lessons to ensure Wales is never again put at risk like it was during the early phases of this pandemic. Welsh Ministers took decisions that directly impacted the lives of every citizen in Wales, decisions that we will be paying for for generations, yet they are not prepared to defend those decisions to the people of Wales. Yes, a UK-wide public inquiry will have a Welsh dimension, but it'll be little more than a footnote. The UK inquiry will be largely focused on the English NHS. And, after all, the population of England equates to three quarters of the UK population. The English NHS serves nearly 20 times more people than ours. The only way the people of Wales will get the answers they need and deserve is by holding an independent public inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales, and I urge Members to listen to their consciences tonight and I plead for you to reject the Welsh Government's attempts to avoid scrutiny and I beg you to listen to the bereaved families across Wales. Vote for our motion today and let's hold a Welsh public inquiry.
Welsh: Fel y dywed y comisiynydd pobl hŷn, yn gwbl gywir: 'Bydd cynnal Ymchwiliad Cyhoeddus penodol i Gymru yn sicrhau bod y Cadeirydd a'r panel a fydd yn gyfrifol am yr Ymchwiliad yn deall datganoli a nodweddion diwylliannol a gwleidyddol arbennig Cymru, yn ogystal â chynrychioli amrywiaeth ein gwlad a bod yn hygyrch mewn ffordd na allai un Ymchwiliad ar gyfer pob rhan o'r DU fod.' Dyna pam fod yn rhaid inni wrthod gwelliant Llywodraeth Cymru i'r ddadl hon a gwrthod eu safbwynt ar y mater hwn. Gwnaeth Llywodraeth Cymru benderfyniadau a'n harweiniodd ar hyd llwybr gwahanol i Loegr ac at un o'r cyfraddau marwolaeth COVID uchaf yn y byd. Roedd gennym Lywodraeth dan arweiniad Prif Weinidog Cymru a wrthododd dderbyn y dystiolaeth ar fasgiau wyneb am fisoedd, er bod tystiolaeth yn dangos eu heffeithiolrwydd wrth wrthsefyll lledaeniad Syndrom Anadlol Acíwt Difrifol a Syndrom Anadlol y Dwyrain Canol. Gwrthododd y Prif Weinidog gyflwyno eu defnydd yng Nghymru, ac wrth gael ei holi, dywedodd y Prif Weinidog, 'Nid ydynt ar waelod fy rhestr, nid ydynt hyd yn oed ar fy rhestr.' Faint o fywydau a gollwyd o ganlyniad i amharodrwydd y Prif Weinidog i wrando ar y dystiolaeth? Caniatawyd i feirws SARS-CoV-2 ledaenu'n ddirwystr i raddau helaeth, gan arwain at niferoedd mwy o achosion a oedd angen triniaeth ysbyty, gan roi pwysau yn ei dro ar benaethiaid iechyd i symud cleifion allan o'r GIG ac i gartrefi gofal. Dyma pryd y gwnaeth Llywodraeth Cymru ei chamgymeriad mwyaf a mwyaf difrifol, drwy beidio â phrofi cleifion a'u gosod dan gwarantin cyn eu symud i gartrefi gofal. Caniataodd Llywodraeth Cymru i COVID-19 ledaenu'n ddirwystr i'r sector gofal. Faint o drigolion a staff y sector cartrefi gofal a fu farw o ganlyniad i fethiannau'r Llywodraeth hon? Mae eu methiannau wedi peryglu ein dinasyddion mwyaf agored i niwed a, heb os, wedi cyfrannu at farwolaethau cynifer o bobl. Sefydlwyd ysbytai maes ledled y wlad, ac yn hytrach na'u defnyddio i gadw cleifion agored i niwed yn ddiogel rhag y feirws, prin y gwnaed defnydd ohonynt o gwbl. Caniatawyd i gleifion â COVID gymysgu â chleifion agored i niwed, gan ganiatáu i heintiau ledaenu'n gymharol ddirwystr. Bu farw un o bob pedwar o ddinasyddion Cymru a gollwyd yn sgil y pandemig o haint COVID a ddaliwyd mewn ysbyty yng Nghymru. Llywodraeth Cymru oedd yn gyfrifol am benderfyniadau a arweiniodd at y trychineb hwn, ac eto nid ydynt yn barod i dderbyn canlyniadau eu penderfyniadau. Yn lle hynny, fe wnaethant ddewis cuddio y tu ôl i ymchwiliad ar gyfer y DU gyfan, yn hytrach na wynebu ymchwiliad annibynnol ar gyfer Cymru yn unig - ymchwiliad a all ganolbwyntio'n gyfan gwbl ar y penderfyniadau a wnaed gan Weinidogion Cymru, ar gamau a effeithiodd ar ddinasyddion Cymru ac ar ddysgu gwersi penodol i Gymru er mwyn sicrhau na fydd Cymru byth yn cael ei rhoi mewn perygl eto fel y digwyddodd yn ystod cyfnodau cynnar y pandemig hwn. Gwnaeth Gweinidogion Cymru benderfyniadau a effeithiodd yn uniongyrchol ar fywydau pob dinesydd yng Nghymru, penderfyniadau y byddwn yn talu amdanynt am genedlaethau, ac eto, nid ydynt yn barod i amddiffyn y penderfyniadau hynny i bobl Cymru. Mae'n wir y bydd dimensiwn Cymreig i ymchwiliad cyhoeddus ar gyfer y DU gyfan, ond ni fydd yn llawer mwy na throednodyn. Bydd ymchwiliad y DU yn canolbwyntio i raddau helaeth ar GIG Lloegr. Ac wedi'r cyfan, mae poblogaeth Lloegr yn dri chwarter poblogaeth y DU. Mae GIG Lloegr yn gwasanaethu bron i 20 gwaith yn fwy o bobl na'n GIG ni. Yr unig ffordd y caiff pobl Cymru yr atebion y maent eu hangen ac y maent yn eu haeddu yw drwy gynnal ymchwiliad cyhoeddus annibynnol i bandemig COVID-19 yng Nghymru, ac rwy'n annog yr Aelodau i wrando ar eu cydwybod heno, rwy'n ymbil arnoch i wrthod ymdrechion Llywodraeth Cymru i osgoi craffu, ac rwy'n erfyn arnoch i wrando ar deuluoedd mewn profedigaeth ledled Cymru. Pleidleisiwch dros ein cynnig heddiw a gadewch inni gynnal ymchwiliad cyhoeddus yng Nghymru.