Seòmar agus comataidhean

My question was particularly about the disposal of that amount of dead fish.

Before I leave the subject and we go back to Mark Ruskell’s questions, I refer you to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee’s report that was published on 17 January 2025, which I am sure that Nicole Paterson has read. It was a follow-up to the previous Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee’s report that was published in November 2018. In the 2025 report, the RAIC is clear that a lot of work needs to be done. Paragraph 160 refers to SEPA and states:

“The Committee also recommends that the Scottish Government prioritise supporting SEPA in the development of techniques to accelerate the analysis of seabed survey samples as a matter of urgency and ensures SEPA has sufficient expertise and capacity to analyse seabed samples.”

Have you got it? Are you going to get it before next year, which is the timeframe for the results that the RAIC is looking for?

The committee will report on the outcome of the instrument in due course, and I invite it to delegate authority to me as convener to approve a draft of the report for publication. Are we all agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

I thank the minister and his officials.

I suspend the meeting briefly for a changeover of witnesses, and I must ask members to be back here by 10:23.

10:24 On resuming—  

Thank you. Mark, you kindly let me in. I know that you have another question, and then we will go to Douglas Lumsden.

That sounds really retrograde.

We will be jumping around a bit here. We go to Bob Doris and then to Michael Matheson.

I will stop you there. I accept that there is no doubt that others will profit from your pain and it is right that they should. However, we could look at any catchment across Scotland and I could ask whether you know every single extraction licence and every borehole in that catchment. Would you be able to say yes to me about all those and about all the discharge consents?

I now seek contributions from members. I would like to make a contribution, but I see that Bob Doris wants to do so, too, so I will go to him first.

I am sure that the minister will make sure that we get those figures, on the basis that they are for a question that I was going to ask. Keep cracking on, Kevin.

As there are no more questions, we move on to agenda item 3, which is a debate on motion S6M-16241. I ask the minister to move the motion.

Motion moved,

That the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee recommends that the National Bus Travel Concession Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Order 2025 be approved.—[Jim Fairlie]