English: Imagine my surprise to see that this Tory debate before the Senedd offered supposed largesse - the same group of Members opposite who support this ideological, obsessive policy of austerity that the Tory UK Government is inflicting on victims with no mercy: the removal, for instance, of housing benefit for 16 and 17-year-olds, and, where they are in power, as in England, removing from those young people the education maintenance allowance that they are now proposing to remove from young people in Wales. The life chances - 16 to 24-year-olds are a generation suffering badly. From the ongoing austerity to zero-hours contracts in the private sector and to a Tory Government in England who are failing to provide more affordable housing, young people across the UK are continuing to pay the price for Tory neglect and failure. Imagine my surprise when I hear that you wish to help the younger generation reach their potential by taking away their education maintenance allowance. It is no wonder that a sighting of a young Tory voter is almost as difficult as finding a Welsh Conservative Assembly Member who believes that Theresa May will lead them into the next election. But let's give these proposals a closer inspection. What are they? Well, the economic professors opposite who lecture us on the evils of spending are claiming that they are offering free bus travel and a third off rail fares, as Jeremy Miles has already stated, for all 16 to 24-year-olds at a cost of £25 million. I'm sure that they think that this will make lovely, creative reading as a press release, but I would also say that we must look at the small print, because the devil is always in the detail. This intended funding, as I've stated, will be accounted for by scrapping the EMA - helping more than 26,000 students stay in full-time education in Wales and, don't forget, a lifeline for our most vulnerable young people in danger of falling out of education entirely. That is extremely helping their life chances and its removal would have a devastating impact in Wales if it were allowed, as it is in England. Indeed, have they actually engaged with students and young people? If I said to you, 'Free jam tomorrow,' I think we would want it, but if I said, 'Free jam tomorrow, but you will lose your education access,' there's a different response. The Welsh Government have launched a consultation on potentially extending the age of discounted travel to those aged 24 last week. It is a wide-ranging consultation exercise, as has been stated, and it is aimed at engaging with young people, schools, colleges, organisations and bus companies in order to develop a scheme that is attractive. This consultation runs until 4 January 2018 and looks at a variety of aspects, including which categories of journeys, where there is the age of eligibility and size of discount, and alternative payment methods include fixed contributions per journey or a monthly/annual pass for free travel at the point of use. So, we do have a Welsh Labour Government with a purposeful consultation under way that is not to be completed until January, yet, for some reason, we are now presented with what can only be seen as a cynical attempt by the party opposite to pre-empt it or piggyback it. So, let's look at those figures: currently, 15,000 pass holders who will take approximately 1.5 million journeys on buses by March 2018. On the basis of these figures, it can be reasonably assumed that a completely free travel pass would be used by many more people. Assuming an adult bus ticket price is £2 and some 350,000 people would be potentially eligible, the Tory proposal could cost around £70 million for the reimbursement of bus journeys alone. That is almost three times the cost published by the Tories - three times £25 million. This figure only covers the free bus travel part of this scheme and does not factor in the significant additional cost of reimbursing rail operating companies for providing a discount of a third off rail travel costs for 16 to 24-year-olds in Wales. So, how would the Welsh Tories bridge this huge funding gap between their published £25 million and the £70 million-plus that this scheme would cost in reality, particularly given the devastating effect that their party's ongoing austerity is continuing to have on budgets? The Welsh Tories are advocating a plan with a damning economic incoherence that would cause 'spreadsheet Phil' to blush. Yet they continue to lecture the rest of us that they are masters of economic competence. Not even Alec Douglas-Home with his matchsticks could make these Welsh Tory figures up. So, as such, I will be supporting the amendments to the motion proposed by the Welsh Government, instead of the fantastic and fantasy economics of the Welsh Tories. Diolch.
Welsh: Dychmygwch fy syndod o weld bod y ddadl hon gan y Torïaid gerbron y Senedd yn cynnig haelfrydedd tybiedig - yr un grŵp o Aelodau gyferbyn sy'n cefnogi'r polisi cyni ideolegol, obsesiynol y mae Llywodraeth Dorïaidd y DU yn ei orfodi ar ddioddefwyr yn ddidrugaredd: er enghraifft, diddymu budd-dal tai ar gyfer rhai 16 a 17 oed, a lle y maent mewn grym, fel yn Lloegr, cael gwared ar y lwfans cynhaliaeth addysg i'r bobl ifanc hyn yn yr un modd ag y maent yn argymell yn awr y dylid cael gwared arno i bobl ifanc yng Nghymru. Mae cyfleoedd bywyd - mae rhai rhwng 16 a 24 oed yn genhedlaeth sy'n dioddef yn enbyd. O'r cyni parhaus i gontractau dim oriau yn y sector preifat ac i Lywodraeth Dorïaidd yn Lloegr sy'n methu darparu tai mwy fforddiadwy, mae pobl ifanc ar draws y DU yn parhau i dalu'r pris am esgeulustod a methiant y Torïaid. Dychmygwch fy syndod pan glywaf eich bod yn dymuno helpu'r genhedlaeth iau i gyrraedd eu potensial trwy ddiddymu eu lwfans cynhaliaeth addysg. Nid yw'n syndod bod gweld rhywun ifanc sy'n pleidleisio dros y Torïaid bron mor anodd â dod o hyd i Aelod Cynulliad o blith y Ceidwadwyr Cymreig sy'n credu y bydd Theresa May yn eu harwain i mewn i'r etholiad nesaf. Ond gadewch i ni edrych yn fanylach ar y cynigion hyn. Beth ydynt? Wel, mae'r athrawon economaidd gyferbyn sy'n pregethu wrthym ynglŷn â drygau gwariant yn honni eu bod yn cynnig teithiau bws am ddim a gostyngiad o draean ar docynnau trên, fel y mae Jeremy Miles eisoes wedi dweud, ar gyfer yr holl bobl ifanc rhwng 16 a 24 oed ar gost o £25 miliwn. Rwy'n siŵr eu bod yn credu y bydd hyn yn gwneud deunydd darllen hyfryd a chreadigol fel datganiad i'r wasg, ond buaswn yn dweud hefyd fod yn rhaid inni edrych ar y print mân, gan fod y diafol bob amser yn y manylion. Daw'r cyllid arfaethedig hwn, fel y dywedais, o gael gwared ar y lwfans cynhaliaeth addysg - sy'n helpu mwy na 26,000 o fyfyrwyr i aros mewn addysg amser llawn yng Nghymru ac sydd, peidiwch ag anghofio, yn achubiaeth i'n pobl ifanc fwyaf agored i niwed sydd mewn perygl o adael addysg yn gyfan gwbl. Mae'n help enfawr i'w cyfleoedd mewn bywyd a byddai cael ei wared yn cael effaith ddinistriol yng Nghymru pe bai'n cael ei ganiatáu, fel sydd wedi digwydd yn Lloegr. Yn wir, a ydynt wedi ymgysylltu â myfyrwyr a phobl ifanc mewn gwirionedd? Pe bawn yn dweud wrthych, 'jam am ddim yfory,' rwy'n credu y buasem ei eisiau, ond pe bawn i'n dweud, 'jam am ddim yfory, ond fe fyddwch yn colli eich mynediad at addysg,' mae'r ymateb yn wahanol. Yr wythnos diwethaf, lansiodd Llywodraeth Cymru ymgynghoriad ar y posibilrwydd o ymestyn yr oedran ar gyfer teithio am bris gostyngol i gynnwys rhai 24 oed. Mae'n ymarfer ymgynghori eang, fel y dywedwyd, a'i nod yw ymgysylltu â phobl ifanc, ysgolion, colegau, sefydliadau a chwmnïau bysiau er mwyn datblygu cynllun sy'n ddeniadol. Mae'r ymgynghoriad hwn yn rhedeg tan 4 Ionawr, 2018 ac yn edrych ar amrywiaeth o agweddau, gan gynnwys pa gategorïau o deithiau, lle y mae oedran cymhwysedd a maint y gostyngiad, a dulliau talu amgen yn cynnwys cyfraniadau sefydlog fesul taith neu docyn misol/blynyddol ar gyfer teithio am ddim adeg ei ddefnyddio. Felly, mae gennym Lywodraeth Lafur Cymru gydag ymgynghoriad pwrpasol ar y gweill nad yw i gael ei gwblhau tan fis Ionawr, ac eto, am ryw reswm, dyma gyflwyno'r hyn na ellir ond ei weld fel ymgais sinigaidd gan y blaid gyferbyn i achub y blaen arno neu i ddilyn yn ei sgil. Felly, gadewch inni edrych ar y ffigurau hynny: ar hyn o bryd, 15,000 o ddeiliaid tocynnau a fydd yn gwneud oddeutu 1.5 miliwn o deithiau ar fysiau erbyn mis Mawrth 2018. Ar sail y ffigurau hyn, gellir cymryd yn ganiataol yn rhesymol y byddai tocyn teithio rhad ac am ddim yn cael ei ddefnyddio gan lawer mwy o bobl. Gan ragdybio bod pris tocyn bws i oedolion yn £2 ac y gallai oddeutu 350,000 o bobl fod yn gymwys, gallai cynnig y Torïaid gostio tua £70 miliwn o ran ad-dalu teithiau bws yn unig. Mae hynny bron dair gwaith y gost a gyhoeddwyd gan y Torïaid - tair gwaith £25 miliwn. Nid yw'r ffigur hwn ond yn cynnwys y rhan o'r cynllun sy'n ymwneud â theithiau bws am ddim ac nid yw'n ystyried y gost ychwanegol sylweddol o ad-dalu cwmnïau trenau am ddarparu gostyngiad o draean oddi ar gostau teithio ar y trên i rai rhwng 16 a 24 oed yng Nghymru. Felly, sut y byddai'r Torïaid Cymreig yn pontio'r bwlch ariannu enfawr hwn rhwng y £25 miliwn a gyhoeddwyd ganddynt a'r £70 miliwn a mwy y byddai'r cynllun hwn yn ei gostio mewn gwirionedd, yn enwedig o ystyried yr effaith ddinistriol y mae cyni parhaus eu plaid yn parhau i'w gael ar gyllidebau? Mae'r Torïaid Cymreig yn dadlau dros gynllun gydag anghydlynedd economaidd damniol a fyddai'n peri i 'spreadsheet Phil' gochi. Eto maent yn parhau i bregethu i'r gweddill ohonom eu bod yn feistri o ran eu cymhwyster economaidd. Ni fyddai Alec Douglas-Home hyd yn oed, gyda'i goesau matsis, yn gallu cynhyrchu'r ffigurau hyn gan y Torïaid Cymreig. Felly, fel y cyfryw, byddaf yn cefnogi'r gwelliannau i'r cynnig a gynigiwyd gan Lywodraeth Cymru, yn hytrach nag economeg anhygoel a ffantasïol y Torïaid Cymreig. Diolch.