Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:33 pm on 13 June 2023.
Lesley Griffiths
Labour
2:33,
13 June 2023
Thank you. The Minister for Health and Social Services is very keen to attract overseas graduates and, indeed, international dentists to work here in Wales. Those dentists who have a primary degree from the European Union, or the European Economic Area, are eligible to have full registration with the General Dental Council straight away. That allows them, then, to join the NHS performer list, to work in primary care dental practice. If an individual doesn't have those degrees, if he or she has registration from a non-EU or non-EAA institution, they then have to complete the overseas registration examination. What we're doing is making sure that they are available to those international dentists, and I know the number of places on this summer's sitting of that exam has tripled as part of the recovery of the examination following the COVID pandemic. The Minister's also very keen, as I said, to attract international graduates on the tier 5 visa programme within hospital settings.
In relation to your second question around bus legislation, you'll be aware that the First Minister, every year, brings forward a statement in the Chamber, and, last year, in his legislative statement to the Siambr, he stated that we would bring forward a bus reform Bill in the third year of this Senedd term.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.