Meeting of the Parliament 04 March 2026 [Draft]
As the cabinet secretary said, we had a statement yesterday that tried to draw a line under the ferry fiasco, but, sadly, it did not. We are still seeing prolonged dry-dock periods for both the new ferry and the older vessels in the fleet.
Making pre-election promises does not cut it with communities that have suffered years of disruption. People are missing health appointments, weddings and funerals, and they have to leave for events earlier than they should just to be sure to make appointments. That adds costs and takes money out of the pockets of islanders. Local businesses struggle, their losses mounting up, and haulage providers are disrupted—every aspect of island life is impacted.
We called for the fines that are levied on CalMac for contract breaches to be used as a resilience fund to support impacted island businesses. Instead, a one-off fund was set up in a way that caused more division, pitting community against community. Division is also caused by some routes being given more priority than others when it comes to getting the best boats or having their timetables disrupted.
That uncertainty means that services fail and businesses face increasing costs. Businesses have left the islands because they cannot work in these operating conditions. Indeed, it is only because of the resilience of businesses and their commitment to their communities that they have continued to operate under these conditions. However, they cannot do that indefinitely.
The situation impacts on the hospitality industry. Bookings are cancelled, and tour companies no longer take bus tours to many islands, because there is nothing that they can do to accommodate 40 people when a ferry has been cancelled at short notice.
That has a dire impact on the economy of our islands and it increases depopulation. The Government says that it is trying to stop depopulation but, in practice, its actions or inaction have caused it. What is really wrong at the core of the Government is its motto, “Put off until tomorrow anything that you cannot be bothered doing today.” The ferry fiasco shows the danger of that approach, because to put right such omissions in the future takes longer and needs many more resources. The whole of Scotland is suffering from that approach, which, whether it is in relation to health or education, has let citizens down.
Scotland needs a Government that is not afraid to act and that does not put off until tomorrow what really needs to be done today. We need a Government that will put in place a sustainable rolling programme of ferry replacement to ensure that our island communities are never again left in that position. That is what Scotland needs.
I move amendment S6M-20957.1, to insert at end:
“; notes that disruption to ferry timetables is ongoing and continues to impact island communities; agrees that communities must receive support to deal with the economic and social impacts of disruption; calls for local representation ferry agency boards so that the needs of island communities and workers are at the heart of decision making; understands that the root cause of the ferry fiasco is the failure to invest in the ferry fleet and replace ageing vessels, and calls on the Scottish Government to have a rolling programme to replace the fleet going forward.”
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