Seòmar agus comataidhean

You have an addressing depopulation action plan.

I do not think that that has been published yet.

Good morning, cabinet secretary. There has been a worrying trend of depopulation of the islands, particularly in places such as Argyll and Bute. You said that some of the budget that we discussed in the previous session—the £5 million for the islands bonds—would be for tackling island depopulation. Where is that budget targeted? Would the Scottish Government consider a redistributive effect for that budget—giving more money to the areas that are experiencing higher levels of depopulation?

Would it be possible to give the committee an update on the island profiling that you have been doing? Maybe Erica Clarkson could help to answer that.

In the previous committee session, we heard that the Scottish Government was carrying out an island profiling exercise on demographics.

Is there a statutory obligation to prove that the money has been ring fenced or spent in a certain timeframe?

What budget will be allocated when you know the recommendations of that action plan? Considering that some islands are experiencing a higher depopulation rate than others, will that budget be targeted and distributed according to the issues that are faced by some local authorities rather than others?

I am also interested in your current and on-going consultations across the islands. Will some of what you have said today, or have a rough plan of, change because of those?

My very last point is that—again, referring to the previous committee session and to what committee members have said today—addressing issues with housing, depopulation, skills shortages, issues with transport for islanders and all the rest of the challenges that they face is key to ensuring that people can live and work in the areas that they choose. Cabinet secretary, your commitment was to work with other portfolio holders on that. If you do not have time to tell us about that now, it would be great if the committee could have an update on how that work is progressing.

I had not finished my line of questioning, convener.