Chamber and committees

Tha mi air leth toilichte am pìos reachdais seo fhaicinn air ar beulaibh an-diugh, còrr beag is fichead bliadhna on a chaidh gabhail ris a’ chiad achd na Gàidhlig—Achd na Gàidhlig (Alba) 2005—achd a thug inbhe don Ghàidhlig ann an dòighean gu math cudromach.

Tha am bile ùr seo a’ neartachadh agus ag atharrachadh an reachdais a th’ againn mar-thà, gus dèanamh cinnteach gu bheil sinn a’ dìon agus a’ brosnachadh na Gàidhlig agus Albais anns an dòigh a b’ fheàrr agus as èifeachdaiche agus as urrainn dhuinn airson nan ginealaichean rin tighinn.

Following is the simultaneous interpretation:

I am delighted to see this piece of legislation before us today, just over 20 years since the first Gaelic language act—the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005—gave Gaelic status in very important ways.

This new bill strengthens and amends the legislation that we already have, to ensure that we protect and promote Gaelic and Scots in the best and most effective way possible for generations to come.

The member continued in Scots:

The maist o whit A hae tae say the day is anent Gaelic, as ane wad expeck fae the memmer for the Wastren Isles. But a wheen o memmers kens at A grew up in anither pairt o Scotland awthegither, whaur Scots is tae the fore yet. Scots is at the hert o monie lawland communities, an for aw the sneers o some fowk at kens nae better, it is at the hert o Scotland’s leiterature forby.

Sae A am gled tae see at the ack afoore us minds baith o Scotland’s native leids. A hope we can be by wi aw the antrim nories aboot Scots at wes threapit frae sindrie airts an pairts o this chaumer the last time we spak here o the subjeck, an recogneise the day at aw leids haes dialecks—Gaelic an Scots baith—at bilingual road signs isna the enn o ceivilisation, an at Scots an Gaelic isna like the nose an chin o Willie Wastle’s wife—bi which A ettle tae say, they dinna threaten ither, or oniebodie else.

The member continued in Gaelic:

Tha mi airson oidhirpean luchd-ùidhe a mholadh—an dà chuid airson na h-obrach cruaidh a rinneadh le diofar dhaoine agus bhuidhnean thairis air an ùine a dh’fhalbh, agus airson am bile seo fhèin a leasachadh on a chaidh fhoillseachadh.

Chaidh an t-uabhas obrach a dhèanamh airson am bile a dhèanamh na bu làidire. Tha mi gu math taingeil don Leas-phrìomh Mhinisteir airson a bhith ag obair còmhla riumsa, agus còmhla ri càch, airson na beachdan againne a thoirt a-steach dhan bhile far an robh sin comasach a dhèanamh.

Tha fhios gu bheil beachdan diofraichte ann a thaobh na dòigh air adhart gus a’ Ghàidhlig a dhìon mar fhìor chànan coimhearsnachd. Bha iomadach daoine an-diugh a’ bruidhinn mu dheidhinn sin. Mar a bha daoine a’ bruidhinn mu dheidhinn cuideachd, tha sinn aig àm cugallach. Ged a bha figearan de luchd-ionnsachaidh na Gàidhlig air èirigh gu soilleir anns an dàta bhon chunntas-sluaigh mu dheireadh, gu mì-fhortanach tha a’ Ghàidhlig fhathast a’ crìonadh air a’ Ghàidhealtachd, agus gu h-àraid anns Na h-Eileanan an Iar.

’S e mo dhùil gum bi modhan-obrach ùra—mar na sgìrean cànain sònraichte—air an cur an cèill anns an reachdas seo a chuireas maille air a’ chrìonadh sin gus an cànan a ghlèidheadh anns na coimhearsnachdan againn, a’ toirt stèidh làidir do dh’obair-leasachaidh a bhitheas nas fhaisge air na daoine.

Chunnaic sin soirbheachas ann am foghlam tro mheadhan na Gàidhlig thairis air an leth-cheud bliadhna a dh’fhalbh. Tha iarrtas mòr air an dòigh-foghlaim seo, agus a dh’aindeoin nan cnapan-starra a th’ ann an cois trèanadh agus fastadh luchd-teagaisg, chì sinn gu bheil àireamhan nan sgoilearan a thèid tro fhoghlam Gàidhlig a’ sìor-èirigh. Am measg nan iomadh iomairt air feadh na dùthcha, bu thoil leam moladh a thoirt gu h-àraid air oidhirpean Comhairle nan Eilean Siar gus àrd-sgoil Ghàidhlig a stèidheachadh.

Tha mi’ n dòchas gum bi am bile seo a’ neartachadh oidhirpean den t-seòrsa seo air feadh na h-Alba agus gum bi a’ Phàrlamaid againn fhèin ag aithneachadh ann an dòigh ùr an-diugh gu bheil Alba nas fheàrr dheth airson na dìleib iomadh-chànanach a th’ againn mar dhùthaich.

Following is the simultaneous interpretation:

I commend stakeholders for their efforts—the hard work that has been done by various people and groups over the years—and for their work on the development of this bill since it was published.

A great deal of work has been done to make the bill stronger. I am very grateful to the Deputy First Minister for working with me and others to incorporate our views into the bill where possible.

It is recognised that there are differing views on how to proceed in order to protect Gaelic as a genuine community language at such a sensitive stage. Although the figures for Gaelic learners have clearly risen according to the most recent census data, unfortunately, Gaelic is still in decline in the Highlands, particularly in the Western Isles.

It is my hope that the new approaches, such as the areas of linguistic significance, which are set out in this legislation, will slow that decline, in order to preserve the language in our communities and provide a strong basis for development work that is closer to the people.

We have seen the success of Gaelic-medium education over the past 50 years. There is great demand for this form of education and, despite the challenges in training and recruiting teachers, the number of pupils who are receiving Gaelic-medium education is continuing to rise. Among the many initiatives across the country, I particularly commend Comhairle nan Eilean Siar in its efforts to establish a Gaelic secondary school.

I hope that the bill will strengthen such efforts across Scotland and that our Parliament will recognise, in a new way today, that, as a country, Scotland is better off for our multilingual heritage.

Despite the muttering from some quarters, we have plenty to learn on such issues from small European countries that have a population of 5 million and are independent, and we seek to do that. The member rightly points out that Scotland continues to lead in emissions reductions across the UK. The reduction that I mentioned earlier—of 51.3 per cent over the period—is higher than that in any other nation of the UK. We do not rest on that laurel but, in the constitutional settlement that we have, we do not have the powers that we need to make some of the choices that we would like to make as a country. The UK Government continues to hold the key policy levers for some policy areas on a net zero future, including critical areas such as Acorn, which I mentioned several times earlier.

The member rightly points to the importance of, among other things, tackling carbon emissions in the transport sector. I can point to many areas of activity; indeed, she herself pointed to the abolition of peak fares on trains. The Scottish Government recognises that the transport sector needs to do much more, and to do it in a fair way.

The emissions statistics that the member referred to point to the fact that the car remains the single largest contributor to transport emissions in Scotland. Indeed, it accounts for 5 megatonnes of emissions from domestic transport, including international aviation and shipping.

Those are areas that I am sure that future ministers, and the Parliament as a whole, will want to work together on. We need to invest—and we are investing—in our public transport system.

Climate innovation and entrepreneurship are not just good for the planet; as other members have talked about, the economic opportunities are enormous, and we want to help Scottish businesses innovate at home and export their solutions to the rest of the world.

We are pleased that we have been able to invest in projects such as the one at Crofthead farm via our Scottish industrial energy transformation fund, and we note the continued entrepreneurial development beyond the initial innovation. Our enterprise agencies provide Scottish businesses with specialist advice, funding and knowledge exchange opportunities to drive up productivity and innovation through net zero initiatives.

Our green industrial strategy seeks to ensure that Scotland secures the enormous economic opportunity that the transition presents in areas such as offshore wind, carbon capture, utilisation and storage, and hydrogen. To support that, we are enabling manufacturing to grow and transition through our £75 million investment in the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland.

We are also investing up to £500 million over five years to support a highly productive offshore wind economy and to leverage additional private investment in the infrastructure and manufacturing facilities that are critical to growing the sector. We are also supporting improvements to electricity generation and network asset management, including network charging and access arrangements that will encourage the deployment and viability of renewables projects in Scotland.

As I know that the member appreciates, net zero offers huge economic opportunities for Scotland. The changes that are needed will put money into people’s pockets, improve health and wellbeing and protect our planet for future generations. Net zero is a moral imperative and an opportunity to support future economic development.

Workers must be at the heart of a just transition. Our approach will maximise benefits of climate action and minimise impacts for workers and communities. Our next climate change plan will outline the costs and benefits of policies, supported by just transition plans, and our national adaptation plan is driving our response to climate impacts.

As we have seen in other parts of Europe, the helpful thing about many heat networks is the move that has been made from “burning stuff”, as the member put it, to other forms of power. My officials are working jointly with the UK Government to commission guidance that will look at the issue of waste heat. We are also looking at how to ensure that the heat in buildings bill incentivises renewably powered heat networks in the future.

Scotland has 1.5 million hectares of woodland, which covers 19 per cent of our country. The age structure of the forest estate and of the trees that are concerned means that the carbon sink that I referred to earlier will reduce over the 15 years to come. We need to plant more woodland, and we are planting more trees. Scotland is far more effective at planting trees than other nations of the UK. I think that 75 per cent of the tree planting that is presently going on in the UK is happening in Scotland. We are proud of that record and we will continue to work on it.

As I indicated, we are pleased that the UK Government has made commitments in that area. As the Climate Change Committee has said, Acorn is essential to our reaching net zero. It is also essential to the economy of the north-east, Grangemouth and Scotland as a whole. We are pleased that we took the lead in that area and that the UK Government is following it, but we need a timeline from the UK Government as to when that investment will come.

I will tell the member what he has missed. Apart from missing concepts such as decency and manners, the member has missed out the great issue facing our world today: the need to get to net zero, which he seems to have overlooked. He seems to think—and this will be my parting word to him—that we can somehow get through the next 50 years without attempting to get to net zero. That is what he has missed.