Duncan McNeil: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I want to take a moment to thank all the members of the Parliament’s staff who have served me my breakfast, put up with my rants about the information technology system and supported me in committees of the Parliament—right down to Paul Grice, whose advice and support I have valued very much over the piece. I should also mention my personal assistant Alison...
Duncan McNeil: Seniority!
Duncan McNeil: 6. To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that its drugs strategy, “The Road to Recovery”, is working effectively. (S4O-05651)
Duncan McNeil: I thank the minister for his response, and I welcome his statement that there is no complacency—nor should there be. According to the Information Services Division, there are currently 61,000 problem drug users in Scotland, which is up from 2009-10. The number of people being prescribed methadone has increased over the piece, drug possession levels remain unchanged, and the number of people...
Duncan McNeil: I begin by thanking the many stakeholders who submitted evidence on the bill, particularly the parents who generously shared with the committee their difficult experiences of losing a baby or a pregnancy. The evidence greatly assisted us with our deliberations and our understanding of the issues—that is reflected in our stage 1 report. The loss of a baby is one of the most heartbreaking...
Duncan McNeil: That is not something that we looked at particularly, but the member has made a good point. The minister is here and she might wish to consider that further. The committee also welcomes the provisions in the bill that set out who may make arrangements for burial and cremation following the loss of a child; they might cover the issue of the mother’s death that Stewart Stevenson brought up....
Duncan McNeil: I acknowledge, on behalf of the committee, the passion of all those who provided evidence on the bill. The committee met clinicians and nurses, faith and belief groups, families of organ donors and people who are currently awaiting a transplant or had already received one. All of them support organ donation and described it as a gift of life. I want to give special thanks to those who...
Duncan McNeil: The member is inviting me to express a minority opinion. As a colleague on the committee, I would ask him not to do that. I am speaking on behalf of the committee today and trying to do a balancing act. I will not be drawn into criticising the member who introduced the bill. I hope that Mike MacKenzie is able to accept that. Irrespective of whether the bill is passed, we call on the Scottish...
Duncan McNeil: I want to begin with some verse—a risky business, I suppose. “Oh, thou demon Drink, thou fell destroyer; Thou curse of society, and its greatest annoyer. What hast thou done to society, let me think? I answer thou hast caused the most of ills, thou demon Drink.” Although questions might be asked about the quality of William McGonagall’s verse and his advocacy of the temperance...
Duncan McNeil: 10. To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport last met the chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. (S4O-05503)
Duncan McNeil: When the cabinet secretary visited my constituency in late November, concerns about the future of Inverclyde royal hospital were dismissed as having “no substance”. However, a recent health board paper has revealed that the hospital’s repair bill has soared to a staggering £65 million, 80 per cent of which falls within the clinical space. Given the sheer scale of the maintenance...
Duncan McNeil: The First Minister will be aware of the announcement made yesterday by Texas Instruments that it intends to cease production at its Greenock plant and relocate to America, Japan and Germany, with a potential loss of 365 jobs. I am sure that the First Minister will agree that that would be an undeserved fate for the highly skilled and committed workforce at the plant and, indeed, for our...
Duncan McNeil: I welcome the debate, which I think is the second debate on the issue in recent times, outwith debates on legislation. The more we have such debates, the better. As has been described, we are on a journey of health and social care integration, and the redesigning of out-of-hours primary care is part of that journey. As Bob Doris rightly says, there is a lot going on, but there is...
Duncan McNeil: In some cases, a workforce is being inherited that is demoralised, untrained and poorly paid. That needs to change.
Duncan McNeil: The cabinet secretary has rightly said that more will be expected from primary care services and that there will be increased investment. How will we measure the outcomes, given that QOF is disappearing? How will people know that we are getting the outcomes for that increased investment and activity?
Duncan McNeil: During the cabinet secretary’s meetings with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, has she discussed the Scottish public finances update, which ended the unnecessary and distressing delay to the Ravenscraig older care unit construction programme? Will the cabinet secretary confirm that any increases that are due to increased construction costs will be met in full by the Scottish Government and...
Duncan McNeil: I agree with the cabinet secretary that the report is worthy and that we need to make progress on it. The cabinet secretary has mentioned the GP contract for 2017 and the implementation plan for 2016. The report highlights that deprived communities are losing out now and could benefit now, so can beneficial elements of the report be rolled out and implemented prior to those dates in deprived...
Duncan McNeil: At one time there were adverts to promote cigarettes showing Ronald Reagan giving them as Christmas gifts or Superman jumping out of a helicopter, but long gone are the days when cigarettes were so fashionable that around half of all adults in the United Kingdom were regular smokers. Decades on, attitudes have changed drastically, but cigarette smoking is still the world’s leading cause of...
Duncan McNeil: In his reading, did the member take note of the words of Professor John Britton of the UK centre for tobacco and alcohol studies, who told the committee that NVPs have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives, that the real enemy is tobacco and that nicotine is about as hazardous as caffeine?
Duncan McNeil: I hope that my motives will not be misunderstood today. I have a responsibility to highlight the many concerns that my community has. There has been a lot of interest in the future of the tender process. The debate has been an enjoyable meander or canter through the years. It is important to recognise that the issue has long been debated in the chamber. There is nothing wrong in being honest...
