Chamber and committees

Apologies, convener—my internet dropped there.

I want to ask about the impact of Covid on meeting the 13 strategic objectives. We cannot just forget two and a half years of the pandemic and the impact that it has probably had on everybody’s lives. Going back to Edward Mountain’s point about mental health professionals, I know from evidence taken by the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee that digital connectivity supported engagement with mental health services, although we cannot forget the importance of face-to-face appointments, too. How has Covid-19 impacted on island communities and the progress towards meeting the plan’s 13 strategic objectives?

Does the plan need to be slightly revised or renewed to acknowledge the Covid pandemic? After all, as you said in your opening statement, it was launched 12 weeks before the pandemic. Does the plan need to be tweaked at all to make people aware that, although there has been an impact, progress has been made in certain areas?

There is a comprehensive document on the islands of the European Union, which talks about the state of play and future challenges. How do we work with our European neighbours now that we are not in the European Union? Some comprehensive planning and work have been taken forward to consider equivalent issues—[Inaudible.]

I will pick on the digital questions that colleagues have asked. I read on the Scottish Government’s website that the programme is implementing £600 million to support the R100 roll-out. We have already talked about hot-desking and hub models, and I know that those models are already part of what is happening not only on the islands but in other remote and rural areas such as Dumfries and Galloway.

Are you confident that the digital infrastructure that we need will support people to work from home or hub, whether they work that way part time or completely, as has been described? How confident are you that we will have roll-out for the islands for better connectivity digitally?

I have a final wee supplementary point. Part of that is about working with other stakeholders, such as local authorities, as you have highlighted. I am also reading about HebNet CIC, which is a superfast broadband provider for the small islands of Canna, Rum, Eigg and Muck. Obviously, the Scottish Government will need to work and engage with other stakeholders in order to implement the roll-out.

I have a quick supplementary question to Paul O’Kane’s question. Other countries in Europe have also gone through the pandemic, and we need to look at what they are doing and learn from them. Have they changed their alcohol consumption habits during the pandemic? How are we learning from and working with other countries? We need to learn from them in relation to the World Health Organization’s global challenges on alcohol harms and prevention.

I would like to hear from the minister about how we are tackling alcohol harm in the light of inequalities. The briefing that we got from SHAAP talked specifically about how LGBT people use and misuse alcohol and sometimes feel that the services that are available focus on heterosexual people, or that those services might need to have more person-centred and holistic approach.

How do we help to support a reduction in alcohol harm in hard-to-reach groups or in areas of greater inequality?

I represent a rural and remote area. I know that you will be familiar with the challenges in those areas. Can you tell us a wee bit about how we are tackling alcohol harms in remote and rural areas?

No, I think that that is okay. If the framework allows for or enables divergence, that means that it supports the continuation of a Northern Ireland protocol that has been established to allow Northern Ireland to continue to be aligned with the EU regulations—is that right?

Thank you.