Mike MacKenzie: 4. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the developing the young workforce programme. (S4O-05689)
Mike MacKenzie: Can the minister outline what role businesses in the Highlands and Islands and indeed across the rest of Scotland should play in supporting the programme?
Mike MacKenzie: 4. To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with the dualling of the A9. (S4O-05679)
Mike MacKenzie: Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that as well as creating and retaining jobs during the construction phases, the dualling of the A9 will provide a long-term stimulus to the economy of the Highlands and Islands and improve safety for motorists?
Mike MacKenzie: Does Mr Harvie agree that to be unduly harsh with rent capping might deter investment and prevent the provision of new homes in the very areas where they are scarce and that a proportionate intervention, as suggested by the Scottish Government in the bill, is the appropriate way forward?
Mike MacKenzie: I am much more optimistic than Rhoda Grant and have a better insight into the immense technical difficulty we have seen in laying cables—not least submarine cables—to many of our islands. Will the cabinet secretary explain some of the benefits of delivering high-speed broadband across the Highlands and Islands and say whether that will boost the economy?
Mike MacKenzie: Presiding Officer, I have a confession to make: I expected the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee’s investigation into the Forth bridge closure to be dull as ditch water and for us to plod through tiresome technicalities and meaningless minutes, but instead I found it riveting. My attention has been welded to the wonders of our wonderful bridges. I have become a bridge nerd. I...
Mike MacKenzie: Will the member take an intervention?
Mike MacKenzie: 1. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the island areas ministerial working group. (S4O-05615)
Mike MacKenzie: Does the minister agree that the plans for a forthcoming islands bill offer a significant opportunity and hope for all Scotland’s island communities to end the regional disadvantage that they have suffered for generations?
Mike MacKenzie: I share Mary Scanlon’s concerns about the coffee and I compliment her on her efforts to improve its quality. I have observed something that might help the corporate body. On odd occasions, I have been in committees that have met very early in the day, and on those occasions the coffee seems to taste much better. I suggest that part of the problem, at least, might be that, at times, coffee...
Mike MacKenzie: 2. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the productivity of the Laggan and Tormore fields west of Shetland. (S4T-01318)
Mike MacKenzie: Given reports that the gas produced from the Laggan and Tormore fields is expected to provide around 8 per cent of the United Kingdom’s gas needs, equivalent to that of about 2 million homes, does the cabinet secretary agree that this is a significant boost to North Sea production; that with 22 billion barrels of recoverable oil remaining in the North Sea, the oil and gas sector still has a...
Mike MacKenzie: Does Anne McTaggart agree that some of the difficulties with the bill, such as those that relate to proxies, are complex issues for which no apparent solution springs quickly to mind, at least for those of us who participated in the Health and Sport Committee’s deliberations? Does she agree that it would therefore be difficult, in the short timescale that we have before the dissolution of...
Mike MacKenzie: Does Mr McNeil see a logical inconsistency in Anne McTaggart’s position that the bill could be changed by amendment and the position of the minority of members of the committee that no amendment is necessary?
Mike MacKenzie: Will the member give way?
Mike MacKenzie: I have a great deal of respect for Anne McTaggart and for her passion about and conviction on organ donation, and I approached our scrutiny of her bill with more than an open mind. I actively wanted to support it. Back then, I could find nothing in the general premise of the soft opt-out for organ donation on which the bill is founded to disagree with. It seemed to be a matter of common sense...
Mike MacKenzie: No, thank you. We are short of time. It is important to set the context. It is true that we saw a falling off of organ supply in 2014-15, but that is against a significantly rising trend in the supply of organ donations. Therefore, we must be doing something right, and we ought to pay heed to the advice that we received from many experts in the field who were opposed to the bill. It would be...
Mike MacKenzie: No, thank you. I am short of time. Although there is a suggestion that soft opt-out systems seem to perform better, it is difficult to know whether that is purely because of the soft opt-out system—we have heard about the situation in Spain—or whether the increased organ supplies are due to other complementary factors. I think that Anne McTaggart agrees that a whole range of actions is...
Mike MacKenzie: No, thank you.
