Health and Sport Committee, 11 Feb 2009

Meeting date: Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Official Report 114KB pdf

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Decision on Taking Business in Private

Good morning, and welcome to the fifth meeting in 2009 of the Health and Sport Committee. I remind all members to ensure that mobile phones and BlackBerrys are switched off. No apologies have been received.

Agenda item 1 is a decision on taking business in private. In line with usual practice, the committee is invited to agree to take in private item 3, which is the committee's approach to a proposed European Union directive on cross-border health care. Are we agreed?

Can I just question that?

Certainly.

When we deal with travel expenses for witnesses and so on, I can see the rationale for taking the item in private. However, given that we are not talking about commercial or sensitive issues in this case, I wonder whether we should consider the item in public rather than in private. I accept that there are sometimes good reasons for considering matters in private, but I wonder whether that is the case for this item. I move against taking it in private.

I have just discussed the matter with the clerk and our view is that it is really for the committee to decide whether to take item 3 in public rather than private. I am easy about it.

I think that we should take it in public.

Fine. Let us go for it. Comments, please—oh, sorry, we have not come to that item yet. Right. Let us roll our sleeves up and start again.

The convener got quite excited when we decided to take the item in public.

Be gentle with me.