English: I'm very pleased to take part in this debate on behalf of my party, Plaid Cymru, but also as co-chair of the cross-party group on children and the cross-party group on looked-after children, roles that I'm very proud and grateful to share with David Melding. I'd like to thank the Chair and the committee for what is an excellent report, with very powerful recommendations and very well evidenced recommendations. I also echo the gratitude that's already been expressed to all those who participated in giving evidence, particularly children and young people themselves. Those of us who were Members of this Senedd in 2011, as the Chair of this committee was, when the rights of children and young persons Measure was passed, will remember that the process was by no means straightforward and that there was resistance from within some parts of the Welsh Government at that time, because they felt that placing the convention on a legal footing was constraining to the Government. Those more progressive voices prevailed, and I'd like to put on record again my thanks to all those who helped us in civil society, many of whom went on to give evidence, and particularly to the academics at Swansea University. When we passed the legislation, it felt like a really exciting development on a route that had been part of our Senedd's pathway right from the beginning, when one of the first things that we had to deal with was the terrible Waterhouse report into child abuse. Right from the beginning, we have debated these issues, and passing the legislation felt like an important step forward. In that context, in some ways, this report makes disappointing reading, because while absolutely there has been progress, there is clearly so much more to do. I want to give my personal support and Plaid Cymru's support to all the recommendations. There's no time, of course, in this debate to refer to them all. I want to begin by highlighting those that relate to child rights impact assessments. We need to transform the culture so that all those involved in producing these assessments see them as what they are intended to be, which is a resource to help Government improve practice and not a further burden. Knowing the pressures on our public services, it is understandable if that's how these impact assessments are sometimes perceived, but that is not the intention. This is a tool to help us all do better by children, and we need a shift so that people understand that. It doesn't work to include child rights impact assessments under broader equality assessments. They're not there to do the same things. So, I very much hope that the Government will accept all that the committee's had to say with regard to child rights impact assessments. I particularly want to give our support to recommendation 3. It's really important that Welsh Ministers, right at the top, understand the implications of the Measure for them and for their work, and understand what 'due regard' is intended to mean. It is always a risk in any institution that we lose institutional memory, that we forget why we needed this legislation in the first place, that we forget how much it matters. This recommendation goes a long way to addressing that, and I hope that whoever forms the next Welsh Government will embrace that with enthusiasm. The recommendations about redress are also very important. I won't attempt to go through them one by one, but I've long believed that rights in themselves lack value unless those rights can be enforced. In the end, there is little point, Llywydd, in having a law if nobody gets into trouble if the law is broken. That's what laws are for, otherwise we can achieve policy objectives with budgets, with policy documents. But if it's a law, there has to be a way for somebody who feels that that law has been broken - and in this case, particularly for children - to be able to say, 'No, my rights were not addressed, my rights were not respected, and this is what I want done about it'. That is a particularly important part of this report, and the evidence was very clear to me.
Welsh: Rwy'n falch iawn o gymryd rhan yn y ddadl hon ar ran fy mhlaid, Plaid Cymru, ond hefyd fel cyd-gadeirydd y grŵp trawsbleidiol ar blant a'r grŵp trawsbleidiol ar blant sy'n derbyn gofal, rolau rwy'n falch iawn ac yn ddiolchgar o gael eu rhannu gyda David Melding. Hoffwn ddiolch i'r Cadeirydd a'r pwyllgor am yr adroddiad rhagorol hwn, gydag argymhellion pwerus a thystiolaeth dda iawn yn sail iddynt. Rwyf hefyd yn adleisio'r diolch a fynegwyd eisoes i bawb a gymerodd ran yn y broses o roi tystiolaeth, yn enwedig plant a phobl ifanc eu hunain. Bydd y rheini ohonom, fel Cadeirydd y pwyllgor hwn, a oedd yn Aelodau o'r Senedd hon yn 2011 pan basiwyd y Mesur hawliau plant a phobl ifanc, yn cofio nad oedd y broses yn syml o bell ffordd a bod gwrthwynebiad gan rai rhannau o Lywodraeth Cymru ar y pryd am eu bod yn teimlo bod gosod y confensiwn ar sail gyfreithiol yn cyfyngu ar y Llywodraeth. Y lleisiau mwy blaengar a orfu, a hoffwn gofnodi eto fy niolch i bawb a'n helpodd mewn cymdeithas sifil, gyda llawer ohonynt wedi mynd ymlaen i roi tystiolaeth, ac yn enwedig i academyddion Prifysgol Abertawe. Pan basiwyd y ddeddfwriaeth gennym, roedd yn teimlo fel datblygiad cyffrous iawn ar drywydd a fu'n rhan o lwybr ein Senedd o'r dechrau, ac un o'r pethau cyntaf y bu'n rhaid inni ymdrin ag ef oedd adroddiad ofnadwy Waterhouse ar gam-drin plant. O'r dechrau un, rydym wedi trafod y materion hyn, ac roedd pasio'r ddeddfwriaeth yn teimlo fel cam pwysig ymlaen. Yn y cyd-destun hwnnw, mae'r adroddiad hwn yn siomedig mewn rhai ffyrdd, oherwydd er gwaethaf y cynnydd pendant a wnaed, mae'n amlwg fod cymaint mwy i'w wneud. Rwyf am roi fy nghefnogaeth bersonol a chefnogaeth Plaid Cymru i'r holl argymhellion. Nid oes amser i gyfeirio atynt i gyd yn y ddadl hon wrth gwrs. Hoffwn ddechrau drwy dynnu sylw at y rheini sy'n ymwneud ag asesiadau o'r effaith ar hawliau plant. Mae angen inni drawsnewid y diwylliant fel bod pawb sy'n ymwneud â chynhyrchu'r asesiadau hyn yn eu gweld fel yr hyn y bwriedir iddynt fod, sef adnodd i helpu'r Llywodraeth i wella ymarfer, ac nid fel baich pellach. O wybod faint o bwysau sydd ar ein gwasanaethau cyhoeddus, mae'n ddealladwy os mai dyna yw'r canfyddiad o'r asesiadau effaith hyn o bryd i'w gilydd, ond nid dyna yw'r bwriad. Mae hwn yn offeryn i'n helpu ni i gyd i wneud yn well dros blant, ac mae angen newid arnom fel bod pobl yn deall hynny. Nid yw cynnwys asesiadau o'r effaith ar hawliau plant o dan asesiadau cydraddoldeb ehangach yn gweithio. Nid ydynt yno i wneud yr un pethau. Felly, rwy'n gobeithio'n fawr y bydd y Llywodraeth yn derbyn popeth a oedd gan y pwyllgor i'w ddweud ynglŷn ag asesiadau o'r effaith ar hawliau plant. Rwyf am roi ein cefnogaeth yn arbennig i argymhelliad 3. Mae'n bwysig iawn fod Gweinidogion Cymru, ar y brig, yn deall goblygiadau'r Mesur iddynt hwy ac i'w gwaith, ac yn deall beth y bwriedir i 'sylw dyledus' ei olygu. Mae bob amser yn risg mewn unrhyw sefydliad ein bod yn colli cof sefydliadol, ein bod yn anghofio pam fod angen y ddeddfwriaeth hon yn y lle cyntaf, ein bod yn anghofio pa mor bwysig ydyw. Mae'r argymhelliad hwn yn gwneud llawer i fynd i'r afael â hynny, ac rwy'n gobeithio y bydd pwy bynnag sy'n ffurfio Llywodraeth nesaf Cymru yn frwd eu croeso iddo. Mae'r argymhellion ynglŷn â gwneud iawn am gamweddau hefyd yn bwysig iawn. Nid wyf am geisio mynd drwyddynt fesul un, ond rwyf wedi credu ers tro nad oes gwerth i hawliau ynddynt eu hunain oni bai y gellir gorfodi'r hawliau hynny. Yn y pen draw, Lywydd, nid oes fawr o bwynt cael cyfraith os nad oes neb yn mynd i drwbl os yw'n torri'r gyfraith honno. Dyna ddiben cyfreithiau, neu fel arall gallwn gyflawni amcanion polisi gyda chyllidebau, gyda dogfennau polisi. Ond os yw'n gyfraith, rhaid bod ffordd i rywun sy'n teimlo bod y gyfraith honno wedi'i thorri - a phlant yn benodol yn yr achos hwn - allu dweud, 'Na, ni chafodd fy hawliau eu parchu, a dyma rwyf am ei weld yn digwydd o ganlyniad i hynny'. Mae'n rhan arbennig o bwysig o'r adroddiad hwn, ac roedd y dystiolaeth yn glir iawn i mi.