 The next item of business is topical questions, and at question number one I call Maggie Chapman. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in light of reports of potential international food shortages and rising food prices. The war in Ukraine is truly terrible, and while our thoughts are rightly with all Ukrainians who are suffering the consequences of the invasion by Putin's forces, its impacts are beginning to extend beyond Ukraine's borders. Ukraine is a proud independent nation which exports many foodstuffs and agri foods to many countries, and Scotland is not exempt from the loss of this produce. I'm therefore meeting regularly with officials, with key stakeholders and industry representatives to gather information to monitor the situation, including the effects of rising energy prices on transport and other supplies like fertilizer and how this will affect farming, fishing, fish farming and food production manufacture in Scotland and the UK. As a result of Brexit, we already have acute labour shortages in key sectors such as food and veg production, horticulture generally, fish, seafood and meat processing, and those are likely to be exacerbated by the current crisis, given that many people who come to Scotland for seasonal work do so from Eastern Europe. I've also met relevant ministers in the other three administrations and we have agreed to meet regularly. Clearly, the cost of living crisis, especially when it affects essentials like the cost of food, affects those on the lowest incomes the most. Across government, we are committed to using all powers and resources available to support people in Scotland, but we're also calling on the UK Government to do more. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. NFU Scotland has called for a relaxation of greening rules so that it can use land set aside for nature recovery for cereal production. As a country, we need to have a much more strategic approach to food security, including ensuring that our productive land feeds as many people as possible, but that must not come at the cost of our long-term future and ecological wellbeing. Will the cabinet secretary confirm that greening schemes will not be discarded in this way? First, I want to make clear the Scottish Government's commitment to supporting farmers and crofters to produce more of our own food needs and to do that more sustainably, but it is really important that we maintain and enhance nature and that we don't scale back our efforts in that regard. Events in the Ukraine are absolutely as tragic as they are. They don't lessen the adverse global impacts on climate change or biodiversity that we're facing. Indeed, they only strengthen the case to do more, because it's ultimately by doing that that we can make our farms and our food production systems ultimately more resilient. There are a number of considerations for any changes to greening. However, there is flexibility within the greening rules for farmers to apply them according to their own circumstances. For example, farmers could choose other options to follow, such as green crop cover or catch crops, but we will work with the industry to promote these other flexibilities too. Of course, we will continue to work with the agricultural industry to find practical solutions that bolster food production in those times of uncertainty, but we will continue to contribute to wider climate change and biodiversity objectives. Our food supply was already being disrupted before this conflict because of Brexit. We had tailbacks of lorries, food literally rotting in fields because of a lack of seasonal workers. Even if they did plant on greening land, who would be there to harvest the crops? It is clear that domestic sustainable food production must be the priority. That includes a shift from growing crops to feed livestock to growing crops to feed people. How will the Scottish Government ensure that food producers are supported, especially smaller local sustainable producers, to maximise the food grown for people and to ensure that we have a robust food supply system? We had recently published our vision for the future of agriculture, and again, food production was identified as a critical element of that and of our plans for the future and the future of agricultural support going forward, as well as tackling the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis. We absolutely recognise that, through the really tumultuous times that we faced over the past couple of years between the pandemic and Brexit, we are now looking at the reality of the impacts of a war between Russia and Ukraine. That goes to show how important our food security is. Of course, we will continue to focus on that. Again, we are working alongside industry with our wider food and drink supply chain to understand the impacts of that but to support them in developing our food security and ensuring that we have that as a key focus going forward. Emma Harper I heard the cabinet secretary's response to Maggie Chapman. The UK Government has just announced that it will impose a 35 per cent tariff on top of existing tariffs on a range of imported goods from the Russian Federation, including fertilisers, wood, beverages, spirits, vinegar and cereals. How does the Scottish Government anticipate that the increase in tariffs might affect food security here in Scotland? The announcements made this morning in relation to tariffs are something that we are giving urgent consideration to and really looking at how some of those announcements will impact on the availability, first of all, of whitefish and whitefish produce in Scotland and the UK. There is no doubt that there will be issues in that regard but I want to make clear that we support the action that the UK Government is taking. It is the right approach and the international community is absolutely united in that. We fully support that application of sanctions against the Russian Federation because of its illegal invasion of and unprovoked aggression towards Ukraine. However, we are also alert to the potential significant impacts and adverse impacts that that can have on Scotland's whitefish producers. That is why we are considering that. We have made clear previously our commitment to providing support to Scottish exporters and businesses who are affected by the on-going situation. However, I have raised the specific needs and interests of our fish processors with deaf ministers and made clear the need for them to provide support for businesses who might be affected by tariffs such as that. That might include potentially providing some furlough for workers who have been affected. Will the cabinet secretary commit to developing a plan to increase the number of acres available for food production in Scotland and consider a temporary moratorium on support scheme rules? Furthermore, does the cabinet secretary agree with Lorna Slater from the green wing of her own party who has suggested that sanctioning supermarkets on waste to landfill through the circular economy bill will address the immediate and serious impacts of global food insecurity in light of Putin's attacks on Ukraine? In relation to food production and land that is made available for that, I do not know if the member had caught my response to Maggie Chapman. In relation to that, again, we have made clear our commitment to supporting farmers and crofters to produce more of our own food needs and to do that more sustainably. Of course, it is vital that we maintain and enhance nature and that we do not scale back our efforts in that regard because it is only by doing that that we can make farms in our food production systems more resilient. We were disappointed that Fergus and Marine did not progress through the invitation to tender stage of the Islay vessel procurement last year. The Scottish Government remains fully committed to supporting the yard to secure a sustainable future, including a pipeline of future work. My officials are supporting the yard in the development of a business case for capital investment, which will help to support and improve competitiveness. Significant progress has already been made at the yard. We know that the yard is actively pursuing vessel opportunities and that Fergus and Marine is back to being a serious contender for future vessel contracts. I hope that the Minister is right about that. CML had no choice but to award the contract for the ferries elsewhere. The Turkish yard is churning out vessels once every few months so that we can be pretty certain that we will see new ferries on time. Last month, we learned that nearly 1,000 cables would have to be ripped out of the Glen Sannocks. That was the one that was launched by the First Minister in 2017 because the cables are too short. The reason they're too short is because control panels, which they were meant to connect to, were fitted further away than originally planned so they don't reach. Can I ask the minister who is responsible for this, what is the extra cost involved and by how long both ferries will be delayed as a result? The characterisation of that issue is not accurate from Graham Simpson. There were issues with the length of the cables due to some issues with subcontractors previously and that issue has been looked at from a contractual basis to understand the reasons for that and progress has been made to refit the cables and correct for that error as a consequence of the earlier activities that took place. In terms of the impact of that on the delivery, the site director will be giving a report and making information available on that very shortly. I'm asking a question in this chamber and I expect to get an answer and the minister has not made an attempt to answer the question which is by how long the ferries will be delayed. It's not acceptable. We're at a crisis point here. Just yesterday, only 13 out of Calmax 29 routes were operating normally. Islanders are at their wits end. There's no slack in the system so when a ferry breaks down, the knock-on effects are horrendous. We need a steady pipeline of new ferries being ordered. The £580 million over five years announced by the government is nowhere near enough. Graham Day asked for £1.5 billion over 10 years. That kind of commitment would give Scottish Yards the confidence to invest, including Ferguson's. If Graham Day knew what needed to be done, why doesn't the minister? Finally, Jenny Gilruth promised to publish the long-awaited Project Neptune. There was a question there. The other question is what's happened to the Project Neptune report that we were promised. Jenny Gilruth promised to publish that last month. We're still waiting for it. The Scottish Government, as the member well knows, is committed to ensuring that Scotland's islands have got the connectivity and the ferries that they require. That's why we're making that substantial investment into ensuring that that is indeed the case. As the member is aware and has already said in answer to his question, the details of the impact of that cable issue are being worked through at the moment and we'll report back when the robust information is available as to the implications in terms of time and cost of that particular issue. As the minister has said, it was clearly disappointing that the Yards did not progress to the invitation to tender stage of the island procurement last year. However, I wonder if the minister shares my view that, given the noise that the Tories have previously made about the ferry fleet and the benefits that the new vessels will clearly bring to islanders and the economy, those questions seem somewhat disingenuous. I'm very pleased that, for the member's question, I'm very pleased to see that Seymal has named the preferred bidder for this vital project, which will see two new ferries built to serve that island routes. We look forward to continuing to work with key stakeholders to develop programmes for major vessels and smaller vessels investing at least £580 million as part of our infrastructure investment plan. That approach will accelerate the new ferries into the fleet, allowing a second isle ferry to be deployed 12 months sooner than previously planned. The new vessels will provide nearly 40 per cent additional car capacity to more than 60 per cent increasing HDV capacity compared to the current vessels on the route. Links to Islay are some of the busiest services for Frey on the Clyde and Hebrides network, and the new vessels will help to grow the island's economy as well as bring added resilience to the fleet. Jamie Halcro Johnston With the new vessels being built overseas, there's an increasing exposure for the Turkish Ard to changes in exchange rates into inflation, which hit 54 per cent in Turkey only two weeks ago. This is on top of increasing costs for raw materials and for fuel resulting from recent events, most notably in Ukraine. Can the minister confirm that these ferries have been agreed on a fixed price, which will not change, or is there a mechanism or a flexibility within the contract for the price to increase to recognise some of these variables? I've entered into those contracts on a commercial basis with the Yard. I'm not in a position to give details of the commercial aspects of that contract at this point in time, but it's assured that we'll have taken those factors into account on a commercial basis when they've made those arrangements and placed the orders in the contract with the Yard that's going to provide those ferries. Neil Bibby Our island communities desperately need a new ferry building programme, and that programme should support Scottish industry. OECD peer review found that the Turkish ship building industry was hit by Covid in common with the industry worldwide, but it also found important strengths, including having an off-highly skilled labour, flexibility in response to changing market conditions and worldwide recognition. Does the minister agree that those things are also true of the industry on the lower plate, and that there is also a Government development plan to support the Turkish ship building industry? Why is there no equivalent plan in place now to ensure that ferries in the lower plate are winning those contracts and future opportunities? The member's address is assured that there is continual engagement between the Scottish Government and the Yard to be able to support it in its journey to becoming globally competitive. As I've already indicated in my earlier answers to Graham Simpson, the Yard now finds itself in a position to bid for vessel contracts and has continued to seek out opportunities in that regard. As I said earlier, the Scottish Government continues to work closely with the Yard to ensure that it becomes globally competitive as soon as possible, and we support it in every respect to achieve that deliverable. Willie Rennie The minister was surprised that Ferguson's did not bid for those ferries. He shouldn't be. His Government owns the company, so has he a clue what's going on in his own company? The First Minister said that Ferguson's was on a journey, but what she didn't say was on a journey to Turkey. Following BiFab, Lochaber and others, isn't it the case that this Government's industrial intervention strategy is a complete and utter shambles? No, that's not the case. The Yard is still operating after a number of years as a consequence of action taken by the Scottish Government. The Yard is still operating and employing hundreds of skilled workers as a consequence of action taken by the Scottish Government. Lochaber is still producing aluminium as a consequence of action taken by the Scottish Government. The Yard is still producing steel as a consequence of actions taken by the Scottish Government. Scotland is still the highest part of the UK side of London attracting form direct investment, all as a consequence of actions taken by the Scottish Government to support industry in Scotland. That will continue as we progress towards delivering, as we have articulated in our strategy for economic transformation in the industry of the future, where Scotland holds great strengths across a whole range of industries across the length and breadth of Scotland. Stuart McMillan I don't think that shipbuilding is the Lib Dems' strongest point, Mr Rennie, but I'm sure that all the Tories with that matter are asking to add, but I'm sure that the minister and everyone in the chamber will agree that the new managing director needs to be given an opportunity to actually progress the Yard, finish the current vessels and make the Yard competitive. With that, will the minister assure the chamber that the new managing director will be given the support that he requires, that greater co-operation with sea mal is installed at the beginning of his tenure, that reporting mechanisms to the Scottish Government are strengthened and that working with and listening to the shop stewards is imperative in making sure that the Yard is a success that the Yard can be? I welcome the members' comments that have set out two priorities for the Yards management, finish building the two ferries currently in the construction and get the Yard into shape to compete for new work. Ministers will all do all that we can to support a strong future for Ferguson Marine. I agree that it is key that the Yard is able to join the experience and expertise of sea mal. We welcome the collaborative approach that the new chief executive is taking in working closely with sea mal. That includes the appointment of an experienced member of sea mal staff to join the Ferguson's management team. Ministers meet regularly with Yard management, the chair of the board and with two union representatives and all share the ambition for the delivery of the ferries and success of the Yard. We encourage all partners to work together in the interests of the success of Ferguson Marine and a strong future for commercial shipbuilding on the Clyde.