Former transport minister Derek Mackay is said to be willing to “answer any questions” from MSPs over the deal to build two new ferries for CalMac which are now years overdue and hugely over budget.
The Sunday Times reported that Mackay, transport minister in 2015 when the deal to build the vessels was awarded to the Ferguson Marine shipyard, was “willing to co-operate” with any parliamentary committee probing the deal.
Mackay has not been seen in Holyrood since February 2020, when he quit as finance secretary on the day of the Scottish budget, after it emerged he had sent hundreds of messages on social media to a teenage school boy.
Meanwhile, the Glen Sannox and another vessel, only known as hull 802, are still under construction at the now government-owned Port Glasgow shipyard, although cabling issues mean neither will be in service until at least next year – five years later than planned.
The bill for the two ferries has also risen to at least £240m – two-and-a-half times their original price tag.
Opposition politicians at Holyrood have been demanding both Mackay and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon give evidence on the awarding of the contract to Ferguson Marine – despite concerns being raised at the time over the suitability of the yard to conduct the work by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL); the organisation which owns CalMac ferries.
Now the Sunday Times reported Mackay had said in a statement: “I am willing to co-operate with a parliamentary committee and do my best to answer any questions they may have.
“To do so as comprehensively as possible I will seek access to the necessary papers and information that I am entitled to as a former government minister.”
It comes in the wake of a report from public spending watchdog Audit Scotland that told how construction of the dual-fuel ferries - which are meant to serve routes on the Clyde and Hebrides - have been plagued by setbacks since they were first ordered.
A report revealed there had been a “a multitude of failings” in the project
Sturgeon has conceded that the “fulfilment of the contract went badly wrong”.
And while she has said it was Mackay who took the original contract decision she insisted as First Minister she is responsible, telling MSPs: “The buck stops with me.”
Scottish Labour transport spokesman Neil Bibby welcomed Mackay’s apparent willingness to give evidence, although he said this was “bound to raise blood pressure at Bute House”; the First Minister’s official residence.
Bibby stated: “A committee inquiry is a chance for Derek Mackay to set the record straight at last, and shed some desperately needed light on this murky scandal.”
He added: “After weeks of spin, secrecy and non-answers from a string of ministers, we have to hope Mackay will come clean where his former colleagues have failed.
“Five years on and £150m later, clear answers about who made these decisions and why are the least the public deserve.”
Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson said it would be a “good thing” for Mackay to be questioned by Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee.
He told BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show: “What we don’t know so far, because the government has not told us, is why the decision was taken to ignore CMAL’s advice, they were saying ‘don’t give the contract to Fergusons’.
“We do not know yet why that decision was taken, or indeed who took it - the SNP are trying to blame Derek Mackay, so I am not surprised that he wants to come forward and speak to a committee.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat islands spokesman Willie Rennie said the former minister must give evidence to MSPs at the “very earliest opportunity”.
He stated: “The First Minister has spent the last 10 days claiming Derek Mackay was in charge of the bungled deal that has cost islanders and taxpayers so badly.
“He must now appear before Parliament at the very earliest opportunity to give his evidence.”
When asked if Mackay should give evidence, Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth told the Sunday Show: “I’m not going to comment on former ministers; I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to do so.”
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