To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Transport and the Environment next intends to meet representatives of Dumfries and Galloway Council. (S1O-2350)

I will meet representatives of Dumfries and Galloway Council tomorrow.

That is excellent news. Can the minister set out what it will take to convince her at that meeting that the future of Stranraer—the United Kingdom's second largest ferry port—and the economy of Dumfries and Galloway depend on upgrades to the A75? What evidence will convince her to change her plans and initiate urgently required improvements?

I hope that I will be able to please Mr Mundell with all my answers to his questions.

The key issue is that I need to talk to Dumfries and Galloway Council about a range of matters. As Mr Mundell suggests, the issue regarding the A75 and Stranraer is important. He may remember that last week I announced new resources for trunk roads and motorways investment for the next three years. I must now sit down and think about the best way of allocating those resources across the whole of Scotland.

I hope that the minister realises that she will have her work cut out at the meeting tomorrow. The feeling thus far at Dumfries and Galloway Council, whose leader is a member of the minister's party, is that the Executive has given it the runaround on transport matters. Will the minister be able to explain why the officials at last week's meeting with the council were under instructions not to answer any questions apart from those of the most technical nature, which led to the meeting being cut short?

I was keen for my officials to talk to people in Dumfries and Galloway so that they could set out the work that has been carried out on the route accident reduction plan. It would be highly inappropriate to expose officials to questions on issues for which I should be accountable to this Parliament. The answer that I gave to David Mundell's question indicates that I am considering issues such as the A75 in the context of the extra resources that we have to spend, which I announced in my statement on transport expenditure last week.

I thank the minister for acceding to my request that she meet members of Dumfries and Galloway Council tomorrow. The A75 will be one of the issues discussed at that meeting. Is the minister prepared to liaise with other ministers in the Scottish Executive on the broader issues relating to the A75? It is important not only as a transport route, but to the economy of the rural areas of Dumfries and Galloway and the whole of Scotland, as it brings in trade from Northern Ireland. Will the minister take a more holistic approach to this issue, bearing in mind the contribution that the A75 makes to Scotland as a whole?

I assure Elaine Murray that Henry McLeish and I meet regularly to discuss transport and economic development issues. The future of the A75 was one of the issues flagged up in the paper published by Henry McLeish on the strategy for economic development in Scotland.