 Yn ystafell ymlaen, gwnaeth y cyfaintau nifer 1, Kevin Stewart. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I'm sure that the whole Parliament will join me in extending their sympathies to the people of Nepal. To ask the Scottish Government what help it can give to the people of Nepal affected by the recent earthquake, and what assistance it can give to the Nepalese community in Scotland? Minister, Humza Yousaf. I thank the member for his question, which, of course, expresses to the Scottish Government I'm sure that this entire chamber's condolence is to the people of Nepal and the Nepalese community worldwide. The earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday is the worst in the region for over 80 years, causing untold destruction and devastation to the people of Nepal. I have written to the Nepalese Embassy to offer assistance should it be needed. As I say, I know that members here will join in expressions of condolence as the Scottish Government is lazing very closely with the FCO and the British Embassy staff, too, that are on the ground providing help to British nationals in Nepal. Following the launch of the Nepal earthquake appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee, I'm pleased to announce that the Scottish Government has donated £250,000 to the appeal. Those funds will be spent by some of our leading agencies working in the region to provide much-needed relief to those affected, including the provision of clean water, food, shelter and medical supplies. I would like to take this opportunity to urge the people of Scotland to dig deep to help to support our aid agencies in responding to the devastation caused by the earthquake. I know in the past that the Scottish people have dug deep into their pockets and responded generously, and I hope that they will do so again. I know that emergency response teams are ready in Nepal for assessing the situation and beginning to distribute relief supplies, and I pay tribute to all the hard work. Kevin Stewart Thank you, Presiding Officer. I know that I speak for the people across the country when I say that this donation from the Scottish Government is very welcome and will help to provide some much-needed relief to people in Nepal going through unimaginable suffering. In an email to me, a Nepalese family living in Aberdeen, I have said that word from our immediate family is that our Nepal home is too badly damaged to occupy and that that story is repeated all across the extended family, where many of the houses have just disappeared. They are alive and sleeping outside, hungry and worried. Folk here are concerned about the impact that the monsoon season will have in their families who are already in an awful situation. Can the minister assure me that we will do all that we can to help in co-operation with the UK Government and with international bodies? I thank the member for that additional question. Most certainly he can have that assurance that we will work with international bodies and the UK Government should be commended for the speed of their response. I know that it will be considering future responses as the situation becomes clearer in terms of the needs. Regarding the member's question about the Nepalese community here in Scotland and his constituency, I hope that I was helpful in being able to give him the number for the Nepalese Ministry of External Affairs. I will put that number out on social media and I think that we can put it up on our website for anybody else in the Nepalese community that is concerned about their family. He is absolutely correct as well to say that with the monsoon season arriving, I have already heard reports of sleep and adverse weather conditions in Nepal, which will of course have an effect in terms of unfortunately some of those bodies that are unrecoverable at the moment, disease and infection being spread from them. I am more than happy to make sure that we are having discussions with the centre for Himalayan research. I spoke to the Nepali consul general, the honorary consul general, Sinita Poddar, and she has said to me that she is looking to bring together the Nepalese community from across Scotland to find out the various bits of intelligence that they have. They look at the expertise that Scotland might have and see how, in the long term, we can assist with a more fulsome response. I would urge once again everybody here to spread the message about the DEC appeal and, hopefully, to raise much-needed funds for the immediate relief effort that is on going. Can we play a part in the long-term response in areas such as the assessment of material and cultural damage and work towards reconstruction and recovery? The minister mentioned the Scottish Centre for Himalayan research, which has a great deal of expertise. I hope that he will be able to meet them and discuss with them some of the matters that they have raised with me. I am glad to hear that he is willing to do so. I know that a number of our agencies before have great expertise in conservation of historical monuments. I am sure that we can have that discussion with the centre and see if there is anything that we can do in the long term. At the moment, the priority, as the member would understand, is immediate shelter and immediate food, but no doubt there will be further resilience work that will need to be done thereafter. A number of the agencies are experts in that longer-term resilience work that needs to be done, such as Mercy Corps in particular, which has the European headquarters here in Edinburgh. I can assure the member that this is not a case that we will simply watch what has happened this week. Unfortunately, as such disasters often happen, they fall off our TV screen and people lose interest. I can assure the Scottish Government that I am certain that the UK Government will not do that. We will keep an eye on what is going on, speaking to the Nepalese community here and certainly speaking to our aid agencies and other public bodies to see how we can help in the long term. I welcome the minister's announcement. He will be aware of the urgent logistical challenges faced by the Government and the people of Nepal in terms of access, in terms of transport, particularly in terms of shelter. He will also be aware of the fire and rescue staff from Aberdeen, who have offered their urgent assistance at this critical time. Will the Scottish Government enable further secondments of professional staff from Scotland's emergency services and others who are in a position to assist with the very urgent challenges of getting access to remote areas of Nepal at this time? He is absolutely right to mention our emergency services and fire and rescue services and the commendable work that they look to do immediately overseas. They always do when it comes to any disasters that take place. We are at that stage, of course, as I say, where emergency relief is the priority. Where any emergency services or any other person can play a part, of course the Scottish Government will work closely with the FCO and the British Embassy to ensure that we can facilitate that. Where we will be able to add value to that is in the long term to see what are the needs of the people of Nepal. It may be water sanitisation infrastructure, where Scotland has a lot of expertise, and then we will look to make a contribution where is appropriate and where we possibly can. However, I can give the member every assurance that anybody, be they emergency service responders or otherwise who are looking to help and assist them, will find the Scottish Government certainly welcoming their contribution and seeing how we can facilitate that. Richard Simpson. I am sure that all of us join with the minister and Kevin Stewart and others in the chamber in terms of our condolences. Also expressing the hope that Scots will donate generously. Of course, the UK Government has offered £5 million to match the first £5 million that is raised, which I think is very encouraging. I think that we should also recognise the resilience of the Nepalese people, which has already been reported on in the face of this tragic event. However, can I ask him whether he is aware of whether he could ascertain from the veterans ministers to whether there are any guercas serving who are present in Scotland at the moment, and make sure that they are contacted and offered support if that is appropriate? I will certainly have that conversation with the cabinet secretary and the appropriate Government ministers. I have seen a real rush of response from the UK because of the relationship that we have with the guercas, and I have been very heartened to see that response. I will certainly have that conversation and update Richard Simpson. He is absolutely correct. Another area that I know that Richard Simpson has a lot of interest in is, of course, in the cycle trauma that can often befall people who have been part of natural disasters of this sort. I can give him again every assurance that where that request is made, in the long term, we will certainly look to help and facilitate it. However, I have been very heart-warmed, I have to say, by the UK response, both government but more so, from the people and the relationship between our armed services and, of course, the vital role that guercas have played in that. That has been one of the reasons for that response. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government whether we are providing an update on the wire corrosion on the 4th road bridge. Minister Derek Mackay. The 4th estuary transport authority, FETA, provided an update on the press release on 22 April 2015. That noted that, while that requires investigation, there are no immediate safety concerns, and the cables still have more than enough strength to do their job. That work will be taken forward by FETA, and then through the new fourth bridge unit operating contract that commences on 1 June 2015. David Stewart. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The minister will be aware that, since the acoustic monitoring system was installed in 2006, it has detected 93 wire breaks, but 24 of those have been since the end of January this year. Will the minister indicate whether that is part of a longer-term problem? Mr Stewart is correct that the acoustic monitoring equipment is providing us with the information that we require, but there will be a further comprehensive investigation over May and June. That will be a bit more intrusive and in-depth. What that will do is give us further information on which to make a judgment. Clearly, some of the cracks that will have appeared will be worthy of further investigation, but we are still of the opinion that there is no media concerns around safety, and the cables are perfectly fine in terms of carrying the bridge and the traffic on the bridge. Of course, there will be on-going monitoring and investigation, and the works that we have put in place on the humidification will prevent further deterioration, but some of that legacy is from when the first cracks and breaks appeared in 2004-2005. There is no reason to be alarmed, but we are taking a very close inspection of the faults that have been found. Will the minister confirm that, even when the new bridge is complete, that the fourth road bridge will still be used for school buses, taxis and cyclists? If there are further wire breaks over the next few months, will the minister agree to come back to Parliament to make a statement to reassure the public about understandable safety concerns? I would say again for reassurance that, although increase in detected wire breaks require full investigation, there are no immediate safety concerns, and the cables still have more than enough strength to do their job. There will be on-going investigation that I have already referred to. In terms of what traffic can use the fourth road bridge, it will be the case that will produce a road order. There will be consultation on that, and that will set out future use. However, as the bridge transfers to the responsibility of the Scottish ministers in a new operating company contract, it will be the case that it will be designated as a motorway, and any traffic will be compliant with that status. However, we will produce imminently a road order that will be out to consultation, and then I am more than happy to report back to Parliament on that and any other matter in relation to the strength of the crossing, which, as I say, will be fully investigated, but there is no cause for alarm. Thank you very much. That concludes the topical questions, and we now move to the next item.