Chamber and committees

Mòran taing, agus madainn mhath a bhuill.

Tha e na urram mòr dhomh gun deach mo chur an dreuchd mar Rùnaire a’ Chaibineit airson na h-Eaconamaidh agus Gàidhlig, a thuilleadh air na dleastanasan eile a th’ agam. Tha uallach glè shònraichte aig Riaghaltas na h-Alba—[Interruption.]

I would not be content with a bill that is just symbolic. The protection that the bill will give the rights of a minority language is not just symbolic; it is very meaningful. Enshrining rights needs to lead to action. The actions of public bodies and communities will make the biggest difference.

It is an excellent idea that we consider how to adapt what already exists. At the moment, Bòrd na Gàidhlig has to report to ministers and Parliament. Your point about scrutiny is well made. If the committee has some good ideas in its stage 1 report about how to establish that scrutiny and to make it slightly broader by saying what should be reported, I would be very open to that.

I do not think that that will have any implications, as it were, for Scots. Obviously, the bill is pretty important for legal recognition of Scots, so it is not exclusive. After all, if ministerial titles referenced everything that we were responsible for, they would be quite lengthy.

What was the second part of your question again?

I hope that you will hear Gaelic being spoken the minute you step off the boat, because it is a living, breathing language for those individuals. It remains living and breathing, because when they go into a local shop, go to church or whatever, they do whatever they do in Gaelic. They feel that they can live their lives entirely through the medium that they choose to live in. That is the difference that I hope you will see.

I favour a local-led process. It is not for me to tell the Western Isles what or what not to do, but I am very supportive of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s Gaelic first approach in some policy areas. Indeed, I support it when it comes to everything that you see.

The idea is that, where a community is identified as a key Gaelic community, there would be a responsibility on Bòrd na Gàidhlig and on other bodies to support the language and its speakers, and to enhance the service that they give to Gaelic speakers.

I am most interested in the community work that goes on. We are obviously conscious of the formalised role of the state and the work that it does through legislation. However, under the bill, Bòrd na Gàidhlig—it tries to do this already, and it does an excellent job—would be required to support and give advice to people and organisations who are keen to embark on community initiatives or to support Gaelic language use in those communities. It is a far more grass-roots approach than just looking at the formal public bodies.

I am sympathetic to exploring that, as it would emphasise the grass-roots approach. There is something quite powerful about things coming from within a community.

Will you clarify your last few words?

The economic outcomes are thriving, prosperous and happy communities. Language is embedded in community—there is no community without language. We can often make arguments, which I think are important, about the economic contribution of Scots or Gaelic, because clearly they have an impact on tourism, on all the heritage industries and on the Scottish economic brand. They have a huge economic impact. However, I am a lot more interested in what is happening at grass-roots level.

When you have communities that are able to work, live and access public services in their language of choice, that is meaningful for the economy. If you think of some of the communities where those languages—

I think that the bill will get us closer to that. Engaging in intensive community work in particular localities is more likely to get us there, and that is what the bill seeks to do. When it comes to the choices that people make about what language they speak, those choices are nearly always made in response to their environment, whether that is their home, their school or where they do their leisure activities. If there are environments in which it is instinctive for people to use Gaelic, they will continue to use Gaelic, and they will have the depth of fluency that Liam Kerr asked about.

That is why I think it starts and ends with community—we all live in a community, and our lives revolve around the community. The bill is trying to get more of a focus on that. The bill makes some changes to education, which is important, because school is at the heart of community, but more than that, it relates to communities.

We have to get it right. The bill creates the legal pathway, but how something is ultimately delivered is what makes the difference. If we have a community that feels more empowered to access help, advice and support, and if we can give people who are already trying to battle for that a bit more of a leg up, we can get there.

In the forefront of my mind are the communities in my constituency, such as Staffin. It is very similar to what I described already; however, until a couple of years ago, the guy in the local grocery store would have just instinctively responded in Gaelic, but that has probably changed even in the past few years because of changing personnel. We need to reclaim that.