English: I'm very grateful for the opportunity to take part in this particular debate because, of course, I come from an area where air quality is actually very, very good - on the north Wales coast. In fact it's so good that historically it's been one of those places that has received investment in its health services in order to look after people who were impacted by poor air quality from many of the cities, historically. So, Abergele Hospital, for example, was a hospital that was established to treat those individuals who had TB and other lung conditions, because of the excellent quality of the air in that particular area. But I know that this is a problem for many other parts of Wales. Like David Rees, I agree that the EU, and our membership of it, has actually helped to improve air quality, and thank goodness. It's a long time since we've had any of the sort of inner-city smogs that we used to get as a nation, which killed thousands and thousands of individuals each and every year. I was just looking at one of the briefing documents for today's debate, and I'm told that the London smog of 1952 killed 12,000 people, which is an astonishing number when you think about it. So, although we have made significant improvements in recent years, it is alarming that we are still, as Simon Thomas quite rightly said, seeing more deaths from air pollution and poor air quality than we are from road traffic accidents. I think that should spur all of us into wanting to see some more action on this particular issue. Many people have referred to public health. Of course, the impact of air pollution actually starts before somebody is actually born. So, it's in the womb during gestation while lungs are developing that we're actually hindering the next generation unless we actually get on top of this problem. Of course, if you've got underdeveloped lungs - if you've got underdeveloped capacity within your lungs - that has a lifelong impact right through into your old age, and people living with chronic lung conditions very often were brought up in smoke-filled areas or in inner-city areas when we had those historical problems with air quality in them. Nobody so far has referred, to a great extent, to indoor air pollution. Of course, we know that that is also a problem across Wales and here in the UK, and it's not just the headline hitters like carbon monoxide poisoning, which is still an all-too-frequent problem here in Wales as a result of people not servicing their gas appliances at home. I think, also, we could actually take some action on that through the regulatory system, to require carbon monoxide equipment and test equipment in the same way that we have fire alarms in our homes in the future. I think that that's something that does need to be considered going forward. Neither has anybody mentioned the impact of asbestos in some of our public buildings - and I know this is something that my colleague Nick Ramsay has championed in the past - in terms of the residue of asbestos that's still in many of our schools here in Wales. This is something that we really need to be moving on to address now, given that many of these buildings have had asbestos in situ since the 1960s. Not to mention the fact that the other thing that impacts on air quality indoors, of course, is cleaning products, sometimes, and simple things like air fresheners, which very often trigger things like asthmatic attacks for people with asthma and other problems, and for people with lung conditions that can be irritated by that. So, I think there's an awful lot that we can do through the regulatory framework here in Wales to complement action that is taken at a UK level and beyond to improve our game. We mustn't also neglect the fact that many of these air pollutants also have an impact on climate change. That in itself brings costs to the public purse in terms of trying to address the impact of climate change, particularly flooding, which has been a big problem here in Wales over the years. There's one final point I'd like to make, and that is the role of trees in helping to address air pollution. We know that trees and vegetation, particularly in our city areas, not only add to the attractiveness of those areas, but they also actually help to filter the air in a very positive way and have a positive impact on the air quality in our urban towns and cities. So, I'd encourage the Cabinet Secretary to consider these things as she looks to developing the air quality strategy in the future.
Welsh: Rwy'n ddiolchgar iawn am y cyfle i gymryd rhan yn y ddadl benodol hon am fy mod, wrth gwrs, yn dod o ardal lle mae ansawdd yr aer yn dda iawn, iawn mewn gwirionedd - ar arfordir gogledd Cymru. Yn wir mae mor dda fel ei fod yn arfer bod yn un o'r lleoedd hynny yr arferid buddsoddi yn eu gwasanaethau iechyd er mwyn gofalu am bobl yr effeithiwyd arnynt gan ansawdd aer gwael o lawer o'r dinasoedd mewn dyddiau a fu. Felly, roedd Ysbyty Abergele, er enghraifft, yn ysbyty a sefydlwyd i drin unigolion yn dioddef o TB a chyflyrau eraill yr ysgyfaint, oherwydd ansawdd rhagorol yr aer yn yr ardal honno. Ond gwn fod hon yn broblem i lawer o rannau eraill o Gymru. Fel David Rees, rwy'n cytuno bod yr UE, a'n haelodaeth ohono, wedi helpu i wella ansawdd aer mewn gwirionedd, a diolch byth am hynny. Mae'n amser hir ers i ni gael unrhyw beth tebyg i'r math o fwrllwch dinesig yr arferem ei weld fel cenedl, ac a laddai filoedd ar filoedd o unigolion bob blwyddyn. Roeddwn yn edrych ar un o'r dogfennau briffio ar gyfer y ddadl heddiw, a deall bod mwrllwch Llundain yn 1952 wedi lladd 12,000 o bobl, sy'n nifer anhygoel os meddyliwch am y peth. Felly, er ein bod wedi gwneud gwelliannau sylweddol yn y blynyddoedd diwethaf, fel y dywedodd Simon Thomas yn ddigon cywir, mae'n frawychus ein bod yn dal i weld mwy o farwolaethau o lygredd aer ac o aer o ansawdd gwael nag o ddamweiniau traffig ar y ffyrdd. Rwy'n credu y dylai hynny ysgogi pawb ohonom i fod eisiau gweld mwy o weithredu ar y mater hwn. Mae llawer o bobl wedi cyfeirio at iechyd y cyhoedd. Wrth gwrs, mae effaith llygredd aer mewn gwirionedd yn dechrau cyn i rywun gael ei eni mewn gwirionedd. Felly, rydym yn creu baich i'r genhedlaeth nesaf yn y groth yn ystod beichiogrwydd tra bo'r ysgyfaint yn datblygu mewn gwirionedd oni bai ein bod yn mynd ati o ddifrif i oresgyn y broblem hon. Wrth gwrs, os oes gennych ysgyfaint nad yw wedi datblygu'n llawn - os nad yw capasiti eich ysgyfaint wedi datblygu'n llawn - mae hynny'n effeithio arnoch drwy gydol eich oes ac yn eich henaint, ac yn aml cafodd pobl sy'n byw gyda chlefydau cronig yr ysgyfaint eu magu mewn ardaloedd llawn mwg neu ardaloedd dinesig pan oeddem yn wynebu problemau gydag ansawdd aer mewn dyddiau a fu. Nid oes neb hyd yn hyn wedi cyfeirio'n helaeth at lygredd aer dan do. Wrth gwrs, fe wyddom fod honno hefyd yn broblem ar draws Cymru ac yma yn y DU, ac nid yr hyn sydd yn y penawdau'n unig, megis gwenwyn carbon monocsid, sy'n dal i fod yn broblem yn llawer rhy aml yma yng Nghymru yn sgil y ffaith nad yw pobl yn trefnu archwiliad i'w cyfarpar nwy yn y cartref. Rwy'n meddwl hefyd mewn gwirionedd y gallem roi camau ar waith ar hynny drwy'r system reoleiddio, i wneud cyfarpar carbon monocsid yn ofynnol a phrofi offer yn y dyfodol yn yr un modd ag y mae gennym larymau tân yn ein cartrefi. Credaf fod hynny'n rhywbeth y mae angen ei ystyried yn y dyfodol. Nid oes neb ychwaith wedi crybwyll effaith asbestos yn rhai o'n hadeiladau cyhoeddus - ac rwy'n gwybod bod hwn yn fater y mae fy nghyd-Aelod, Nick Ramsay wedi bod yn ei hyrwyddo yn y gorffennol - o ran gweddillion asbestos sy'n dal i fod yn bresennol mewn llawer o'n hysgolion yma yng Nghymru. Mae hyn yn rhywbeth y mae gwir angen i ni symud ymlaen i roi sylw iddo yn awr, o gofio bod asbestos wedi bod ar safle llawer o'r adeiladau hyn ers y 1960au. Heb sôn am y ffaith mai'r peth arall sy'n effeithio ar ansawdd aer dan do, wrth gwrs, yw cynnyrch glanhau, weithiau, a phethau syml fel ffresnydd aer, sy'n aml iawn yn achosi pethau fel asthma mewn pobl ag asthma a phroblemau eraill, a phobl sydd â chyflyrau ysgyfaint y gall pethau o'r fath eu gwaethygu. Felly, rwy'n credu bod llawer iawn y gallwn ei wneud drwy'r fframwaith rheoliadol yma yng Nghymru i ategu camau a roddir ar waith ar lefel y DU a thu hwnt i wella ein perfformiad. Hefyd, ni ddylem anwybyddu'r ffaith fod llawer o'r llygryddion aer hyn hefyd yn effeithio ar newid yn yr hinsawdd. Mae hynny ynddo'i hun yn creu costau i bwrs y wlad o ran ceisio mynd i'r afael ag effaith newid yn yr hinsawdd, yn enwedig llifogydd, sydd wedi bod yn broblem fawr yma yng Nghymru dros y blynyddoedd. Mae un pwynt olaf yr hoffwn ei wneud, ar rôl coed i helpu i fynd i'r afael â llygredd aer. Gwyddom fod coed a llystyfiant, yn enwedig yn ein hardaloedd dinesig, nid yn unig yn ychwanegu at atyniad yr ardaloedd hynny, ond hefyd yn helpu i hidlo aer mewn modd cadarnhaol iawn ac yn effeithio'n gadarnhaol ar ansawdd aer yn ein trefi a'n dinasoedd. Felly, hoffwn annog Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet i ystyried y pethau hyn wrth iddi ystyried datblygu'r strategaeth ansawdd aer yn y dyfodol.