Chamber and committees

We have talked a bit about the transparency of the data that exists, and you have talked about some of your preferences around that. Are there any developments to update the Scotland’s Aquaculture website? Related to that, are you able to say anything about how the data in the public domain in Scotland compares to that which is available in other countries?

The second part of my question is around how the situation that you have described in terms of transparency and data compares with other places.

Related to the last question, and specifically on regulation, does regulation need to get ahead of those scenarios? I know that it is not your responsibility, but do you think that there is a need for regulation to anticipate new technologies? If not, is the existing regulation adequate?

I understand why Finlay Carson wants to make points about the problems of living in rural Scotland, and I understand many of them.

However, can he reassure me, as somebody who represents the Western Isles, that he will not continually and lazily try to claim that the SNP Government is a central belt party when the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister represent rural and island constituencies?

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recently published data from Scotland’s census on the number of people with Gaelic language skills.

Gus faighneachd de Riaghaltas na h-Alba dè a bheachd air na figearan a chaidh fhoillseachadh o chionn ghoirid bho chunntas-sluaigh na h-Alba a thaobh na h-àireimh de dhaoine aig a bheil sgilean sa Ghàidhlig? (S6O-03549)

Will the member take an intervention?

It is curious that the member has mentioned migration, given that his party has just abolished our freedom of movement across Europe, the effects of which have been keenly felt in fragile rural areas in particular.

We can argue all day about whether broadband is or is not reserved. The Scotland Act 1998 says that it is. The more important point is that we have to support our rural communities in many ways.

The language that we use to describe our rural communities is also important. For starters, they are not “remote”, although worse descriptions have been used in recent months by certain individuals. We have seen the former Tory deputy chairman describe my own constituency as a place where “nobody lives”, and suggesting that it should be used as a sort of surrogate Rwanda for asylum seekers. Meanwhile, a Labour parliamentary candidate has implied on television that northern Scotland’s apparent “remoteness” makes it an ideal location to berth accommodation barges packed with smuggler gangs.

I am confident that the Parliament will take forward to the future its commitment to tackling depopulation in our rural areas. We need such debates to renew our focus on the priorities that we should have now for rural Scotland, as well as the ambitions that we should have for rural Scotland when we have the full powers of a normal independent country at our disposal.

I thank Tim Eagle for securing the debate on a very important issue: the future of our rural and island communities.

My constituency famously includes the island of Hiort, or St Kilda. Next year marks the 90th anniversary of the evacuation of the last of that island’s population. St Kilda’s story has become sadly iconic, but it is far from the most recent island in my constituency to be abandoned—Taransay, Heisker and Scarp all spring to mind. All those examples make it only too clear what, ultimately, depopulation can mean and what happens if we do not meet the needs of rural and island communities today.

Scotland’s Parliament and Government have long been active in seeking to tackle these issues. In February this year, as other members have mentioned, the Scottish Government published its action plan to address depopulation, in which it set out its priorities to reverse depopulation in Scotland.

Like other members, I could talk for a long time—but I will not, today—about the policies that it takes to tackle depopulation.

Ged a tha e fìor mhath fhaicinn gu bheil deagh bhuaidh air a bhith aig goireasan ùra airson luchd-ionnsachaidh na Gàidhlig, mar a thuirt am ministear, tha na figearan ag innse sgeulachd eadar-dhealaichte ann an sgìrean far a bheil, no far an robh o chionn ghoirid, a’ Ghàidhlig air a cleachdadh gu làitheil.

An urrainn don rùnaire barrachd a chantainn mu dheidhinn ciamar a tha na figearan seo, a tha a’ sealltainn crìonadh de luchd-labhairt ann an sgìrean Gàidhlig, a’ dol a thoirt buaidh air poileasaidh an Riaghaltais a thaobh taic làidir a stèidheachadh gus a’ Ghàidhlig a dhìon airson an àm ri teachd?

While it is welcome to see the impact of new and accessible resources for Gaelic learners on the overall number of speakers, the statistics tell another story in the Gaelic heartlands, as the cabinet secretary said. Can the cabinet secretary say how census data showing a decline in the number of Gaelic speakers in those communities will impact on the Scottish Government’s policy strategy to support the language’s long-term survival?