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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 19 March 2025
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Displaying 2045 contributions

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Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Future Agriculture Policy

Meeting date: 19 April 2023

Jim Fairlie

I have far too many broad questions to go into this with a supplementary. I may come back to that.

Ian, 85 per cent of Scotland is LFA, with only 15 per cent of our land being non-LFA. We cannot grow crops in this country without livestock, which are a major part of our fertiliser production. Are you advocating that we stop eating meat? That is my first question.

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Petition

Meeting date: 29 March 2023

Jim Fairlie

I come back to the point about Ireland. I take the point that we cannot legislate on dogs being bred in Ireland, but, if more than 85 per cent of the dogs come from there and we are looking at the animal’s welfare over its whole life, there needs to be an understanding of how those dogs are bred and the conditions that they are bred in. They are highly valuable animals, by all accounts, so you would expect that their breeding and welfare would be a priority to the people who are trying to make money out of them.

That is just my assertion—do not think that I am saying that that is a fact by any stretch of the imagination. However, I am surprised that there has not been more contact with the Irish racing authorities to work out exactly what is happening in Ireland and whether we are able to collaborate far more with them.

I might be wrong on this, but do we not already have legislation about the transportation and registration of pets that come into Scotland from a non-UK country?

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Petition

Meeting date: 29 March 2023

Jim Fairlie

I am sorry to interrupt you. Why, then, is there a reason for having something specific to greyhounds as opposed to the laws that already exist?

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Petition

Meeting date: 29 March 2023

Jim Fairlie

That was just me being curious. I have a couple of other questions. Can you say how many dogs are brought over to Scotland from Ireland annually? Are they puppies, or are they fully trained dogs?

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Petition

Meeting date: 29 March 2023

Jim Fairlie

The inference from what you stated earlier—although I know that this is not at all what you meant—is that we cannot legislate for what is happening in Ireland.

What are the rules and the welfare conditions in Ireland? What would you have to do to breed and produce top-quality racing dogs in Ireland? Have you had any contact with the Irish authorities as to what regulations they have in place?

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee

Petition

Meeting date: 29 March 2023

Jim Fairlie

These might be daft questions, but they have popped into my head as you have been speaking and I ask them out of curiosity.

I am sorry—I have forgotten the name of the girl who is joining us remotely. She talked about dogs running anticlockwise all the time. Has there been any evidence or suggestion that changing the direction of running would help the welfare of the dogs?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Long Covid Inquiry

Meeting date: 23 March 2023

Jim Fairlie

Welcome to the committee, folks. I will come on to ask about paediatrics but, before I do so, I want to go back a little bit, if that is all right.

Murdo Fraser talked about GPs, and you said this yourself, cabinet secretary. If a GP does not accept that there is an issue with someone who is a long Covid sufferer, they will not have the energy to fight the system. One thing that we keep hearing from long Covid sufferers is that they are drained. If they go to a GP who dismisses them, what is the route for them to get a second opinion? Alternatively, is there a way of compelling GPs to accept that long Covid is actually a condition and that people are suffering from it?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Long Covid Inquiry

Meeting date: 23 March 2023

Jim Fairlie

Okay. I point out that I am talking about a tiny minority of people, and I am not entirely sure about where we are now with regard to people not getting that.

I will talk about the partnership between the third sector and the NHS. My colleague John Mason and I attended a Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland event in this committee room, and it was excellent. Is there room for you to expand that partnership more as we go forward? Clearly, the NHS is under a huge amount of pressure, and if other areas of society, such as third sector groups, are able to help, surely we would want to do that.

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Long Covid Inquiry

Meeting date: 23 March 2023

Jim Fairlie

I will move quickly on to paediatrics. In your opening remarks, you mentioned children who have long Covid, and some of the most harrowing evidence that we have listened to has come from parents of young kids who have suddenly become completely debilitated. What pathways are available in healthcare services for children with long Covid right now?

COVID-19 Recovery Committee

Long Covid Inquiry

Meeting date: 23 March 2023

Jim Fairlie

One of the other gaps that we have heard about relates to the transition of children and adolescents into adult services. Are you doing any work around making sure that the transition is working for young people who go from children’s care into adult care?