Seòmar agus comataidhean

We will move on to questions from Beatrice Wishart.

If any of the other witnesses would like to respond to that, perhaps they could do so in writing. That will probably also apply to the question that Ariane Burgess is going to ask, because we are very short of time. If you would like to respond but do not have the opportunity to do so, please write to the committee; it would be much appreciated.

If you want to ask your questions on farm animals now, that is fine.

Romain, do you have any thoughts on a national vaccination scheme? If we could reduce mortality, it would have a considerable impact on the carbon footprint of livestock production in Scotland.

I am sorry, but we have lost Mike Flynn again. Kirsty, would you like to comment? We will try to get Mike back.

Simon, do you have any comments on the new veterinary service?

Given the push for peatland restoration to tackle climate change, do you foresee other legislation being introduced to ensure that the drive to restore more peatland is not abused in ways that might be harmful to the environment?

Is the committee content to delegate authority to me to sign off our report on our deliberations on this affirmative SSI?

Members indicated agreement.

That completes our consideration of the instrument. I thank the minister for her patience and her officials for their attendance.

I briefly suspend the meeting.

We move on to agenda item 3. I apologise again to the witnesses who were waiting to join us; as they will be aware, we have had an information technology glitch. We have taken the decision not to hear from the second panel today in order to give us enough time to ask the questions that we have for our first panel.

On our first panel of stakeholders, we have Kirsty Jenkins, policy officer, OneKind; Dr Romain Pizzi, president, Scottish branch of the British Veterinary Association; Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn, Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; and Dr Simon Turner, senior researcher, animal and veterinary sciences, Scotland’s Rural College.

Given time constraints, we will not have introductions from witnesses but will move straight to questions. I will open with questions about the impact of European Union exit in relation to animal welfare.

Can witnesses identify any gaps in the regulation of animal health and welfare following EU exit, such as operationally with regard to disease surveillance or with regard to veterinary or biosecurity capacity in the United Kingdom? We are well aware that we have labour shortages across sectors.

We will start with Romain Pizzi, to give us a heads-up on what is happening with the veterinary workforce and to address the other issues.