Thank you, Deputy Llywydd, for the opportunity to respond to this debate. International Women’s Day has become a major occasion in the equality calendar and it’s good to see that it achieves such widespread, positive media and that it sparks so much debate on this issue. Shining a spotlight on inequality and presenting the stark evidence that exists to show how women are still being treated unfairly can only facilitate meaningful change.

Can I turn to some of the contributions by Members in the Chamber today? First of all, I’d like to thank Hannah Blythyn for her thoughtful piece, a very local piece to her Constituency. The people she mentioned—the Flint women’s choir, the RainbowBiz, Val from the poppy appeal, Vicky Perfect—the key custodian of Flint castle—then, indeed, Viv Williams in the Chamber today, from Names on Stones. Last but not least, Hannah, my mum, because she was also from Delyn, so I’d like to make that very clear.

Other contributions in the Chamber today—Leanne Wood, again, spoke very openly about the celebration but also reflection, around the world, around gender equality and I’m grateful for her continued support. The only thing I would say is that this is not a fait accompli. Choices of change to challenge suffrage are in the hands of all of us, including the leaders within this Chamber and all Members, and I’m grateful for her contribution.

Michelle Brown raised some interesting issues. I must say, there was only one part of the debate where I didn’t quite agree with—her contribution around healthy relationships. I don’t agree with that because there is an absolute link between healthy relationships and the well-being of an individual, and that’s something I’m very pleased to be working on with the education Minister in terms of that successful programme for the future.

Can I turn to the amendments of today? We will be supporting Amendment 1, and the Welsh Government is driving forward a range of actions, including diversity in public sector boards—not just women, but all under-represented groups—and we know we’re not there yet but progress is being made. Tomorrow, the EHRC will publish their latest ‘Who Runs Wales?’ report and it will highlight that some sectors—for example, the NHS—have made huge strides in getting more women into senior roles. Nevertheless, I do recognise there is still much more to do, in particular in local government.

We’ll also be supporting amendments 2 and 3, in recognition that there is a very real gender pay gap in Wales, as there is in the rest of the UK. You’ll be aware that tomorrow is actually International Women’s Day; what some of you may not know is that today, 7 March, has been branded as Women’s Pay Day. It is the day that the average paid woman in the UK starts getting paid compared to the average man. Effectively, women are working for the first 66 days of the year for free. That cannot be right. Pay inequality is a complex issue and the days of jobs being advertised with different rates of pay for men and women are long gone, but the pay gap endures. Only by addressing the underlying causes of pay inequality can we ever hope to eliminate it. We are tackling the issues on a number of fronts, and, as I mentioned earlier, including tackling gender stereotyping, occupational segregation and the lack of affordable childcare.

Llywydd, moving to amendment 4, we will be opposing amendment 4 today, which is about healthy relationships becoming compulsory in schools. I absolutely agree with the Plaid Member’s contribution in regard to healthy relationships in schools and it’s something that I’m working on with the Cabinet Secretary for Education, who announced that a healthy relationship expert panel has been set up to address needs and to support schools to provide good-quality, inclusive healthy relationships education. It would be wrong to pre-empt that work, but we will come back to the Chamber to discuss further with colleagues around the outcome of that.

To come back to the focus of today’s debate, Llywydd, it is about celebrating women’s contribution to social, economic and political life. Our role, as a Government, is to ensure that women have the same opportunities as men to achieve their full potential. Just some of the millions of women and girls of Wales I’d like to say thank you to—thank you to people like Hannah Blythyn, Dawn Bowden, Jayne Bryant, Rebecca Evans, Lesley Griffiths, Vikki Howells, Jane Hutt, Julie James, Ann Jones, Eluned Morgan, Julie Morgan, Lynne Neagle, Rhianon Passmore, Jenny Rathbone, Joyce Watson, Sian Gwenllian, Bethan Jenkins, Elin Jones, Leanne Wood, Angela Burns, Suzy Davies, Janet Finch-Saunders, Michelle Brown, Caroline Jones and Kirsty Williams. Comrades, continue to be bold, and let’s build a better International Women’s Day. Equality should be at the forefront of every Government and everything that Government does and we should never lose sight of this. Diolch yn fawr. Thank you.