Education, Culture and Sport Committee, 25 Mar 2003
Meeting date: Tuesday, March 25, 2003
Official Report
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Scottish Parliament Education, Culture and Sport Committee Tuesday 25 March 2003 (Afternoon)
[The Convener opened the meeting at 15:06]
I call this meeting of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee to order.
May I make a point of order?
No.
Please.
Oh, okay, then.
I am not entirely sure that it is a point of order, but you can wait until I have finished before deciding whether it is or not.
I knew it—a bogus point of order.
Many of us deeply regret that stage 2 of the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill cannot be held this afternoon and I am sure that you will give us the reasons for that being so, convener. The debate about the bill is now for another place, where I am sure it will be vigorous. However, I have a few things to say on the subject.
All the e-mails and letters that I have received about the bill in the past few months have pointed to the enormous contribution of this committee in the progress that the bill has made. Indeed, a number of people have said that when the bill is finally made law—as I am sure that it will be—the work that the committee did in raising the issues, discussing them and beginning to find solutions to the problems will be seen to have been invaluable.
On a personal note, as the member responsible for the bill, I feel exactly the same way and I am grateful for the enthusiasm, support, attention to detail and questioning of members of the committee. If we had been able to have stage 2 of the bill today, it would have been obvious that the work of the committee had made the bill much better than it otherwise would have been. I am grateful for that, as is the Gaelic community in Scotland.
Thank you very much for your appreciation of our work. That was not a point of order, Mr Russell, but, as we all know, it is a Scottish parliamentary tradition for points of order not to be points of order, so I see no reason why that should be any different in the final week before dissolution.
The bill could not proceed to stage 2 for two reasons: the decision that was made by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body last week; and the lack of a financial resolution.
I thank you for your comments and state that I believe that we have considered the bill in a fair way and have treated it as we would have treated any other bill that was before the committee. As you said, however, the fight is now for another day and another place.