Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, that would be preferred, just because there are only four or five Gaelic interpreters who we can use, so it's really to guarantee their availability.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  We would do our best to accommodate it. Whether it's possible depends on the availability of interpreters, and that's always the case because we don't hire interpreters within the Parliament itself.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, it would be.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  If the interpreters were located remotely, then, yes, I'm sure we would, but at the moment most of the interpreters are in Glasgow, so it doesn't particularly follow. When we have a meeting that's more remote, we would take the interpreters with us, as the MSPs would travel to th

Procedure and House Affairs committee  So, yes, it's about 1% of the population who have some ability to speak, and it's about half of that who can actually read Gaelic as well. The numbers are very small. UNESCO classifies it as an endangered language.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Not that I am aware of either.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, and the translation in English would be part of the record, not the original language.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I don't have them with me, but it's around about 80,000 who have knowledge or a skill in Gaelic, of whom around about half have written ability, and around about half have spoken ability.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Generally, yes. That would be preferable, yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's mostly that, and certainly for Gaelic. There are only four or five Gaelic interpreters we're able to use, so trying to book them in advance is a good idea.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The most important one at the moment is British Sign Language. We are in the process of putting together a British Sign Language plan, which is encouraging more use and more engagement with the BSL community. It's likely that we will be increasing the number of occasions when BSL

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I don't think that's the problem. I think the problem is that possibly there are fewer MSPs who are fluent in Gaelic. There are only two.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Hello. I'm Linda Orton. I'm head of Public Information, and it's part of my remit to find the interpreters. We use an external contractor who has access to any language we might request. Generally speaking, we like two weeks' notice, I'm afraid. We need that long-term notice, r