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The First Minister will be aware of the outbreaks of avian flu at Glenrath Farms in my constituency, which is the largest egg producer in Scotland, producing 1 million eggs a day. Thousands of birds have been culled and all the Glenrath eggs on the shelves have been recalled.

I ask the First Minister for an update on the contamination security measures at the site. At the risk of reprising the infamous Edwina Currie egg panic, I also ask for an assurance that, given the recall, the eggs that are on shelves now are safe.

Will the member give way?

Well, we must stick it out and see, but I am genuinely interested: why did you choose to be a referee rather than a player? [Laughter.] It is a serious question. Obviously I am out of my depth, but there we go.

I, too, have a vested interest in the Sheriffhall roundabout, because the A7, from my constituency, ends up there. I hear what the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government has said, and I heard what the Cabinet Secretary for Transport said on 1 December last year. However, I am still waiting and, like Miles Briggs, I will be keeping my eye on the timetables.

Will the finance secretary convey to the transport secretary that, in the interim, a partial solution could be achieved? As cars approach the Sheriffhall roundabout from the A7, the road becomes two lanes only as they get to the roundabout, so cars bump up on to what we might call the hard shoulder or rough ground in order to make a second lane. Therefore, something could be done. Currently, only three cars can get through if they are travelling west or going straight on. Doing that at the moment would ease pressure. Has Transport Scotland ever considered that? If not, will it?

Why is that always said just before I rise to speak?

I, too, congratulate George Adam on securing the debate, although it was, of course, too much to hope that it would be a Paisley-free zone when that would be his specialist subject should “Mastermind” ever come knocking. He made at least eight references to Paisley.

I have confessed previously in public that sport, whether as a participant, a referee or a fan, is not in my DNA, so colleagues might wonder why I have opted to speak in the debate. Football remains a foreign land with a language of its own: to VAR or not to VAR—that is the question. Names of people have been mentioned that mean absolutely nothing to me.

I will focus on the extraordinary turnaround in the attitude to women and girls in football—words that we would never have seen previously side by side on the page. It is not that long ago that girls were not even considered to play football, and, even at a competitive level, it is only recently that the stands have begun to fill up. That is partly due to the successes of the Lionesses and Scotland’s women’s national football team—which qualified for the FIFA women’s world cup for the first time in 2019 and, as of June 2025, is 24th in the FIFA women’s world rankings—which have worked their magic and their inspiration, as have Scottish Women’s Premier League teams Aberdeen, Celtic, Rangers, Hamilton Academical, Hearts, Hibs and many others.

All that high-profile activity has encouraged development where it really matters—at grass roots. That brings me to Penicuik Athletic Football Club, which has been part of the town since 1888. It is built, as many such clubs are, on volunteers, families and local sponsors, and it runs more than 20 boys and girls teams. It gives girls a place to belong, with the early touches team for the teeny weenies, through to the teens. Hundreds of girls turn out week in, week out to play football. Teams are supported and sponsored not only by the invaluable volunteers but by local businesses.

Girls football in Gorebridge is also booming, with dedicated squads and multiple age groups, matching the national picture. Female participation is now at a record high at Arniston Rangers Youth Football Club, which has 300 youngsters, with its girls section playing across age groups.

We can talk about football even if we are not a fan of the game and do not get overexcited or weep at defeats, and we can see how valuable it is to others. It is not just about the roar of Hampden, the glamour and dreams of competing in—let alone winning—the premier league or being in a national team. It is about the local parks that are bursting with excitable young girls. It is about being part of a team and not sitting in front of a computer, and it is about running about, even on a dreich day—playing to win, of course, but also for the challenge and the sheer fun of it. It is about learning about the thrill of winning, dealing with defeat and growing from those experiences. It is also about life skills, not just football skills—we might even say that it is a bit of a rehearsal for life itself.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. Even after that obsequious remark by Fulton MacGregor, I take it that he is still being held to four minutes.

Does the minister agree that, when we have such difficulty prising young people away from their electronic devices, it is great that hundreds of young people—girls and boys—are taking part in training sessions and competing at the weekends, as that is doing a great service to their mental wellbeing as well as their physical wellbeing?

Were both your football boots on during that time? [Laughter.]

I congratulate the member on securing the debate and I welcome the guests in the public gallery. I apologise for being unable to be at the event in December.

I will come clean and say that I knew nothing about PKU until I heard about this debate but, after I spoke to Fulton MacGregor briefly and asked him what it was about, I wanted to find out more. I have been here for 27 years and I have never heard PKU mentioned—nobody has mentioned it to me. A bit like Douglas Ross said, that was the pricking of the heel, and I now want to tell my constituents about the issue.

My summary might have mistakes, because it has been gleaned from members’ contributions, and I will not even try to pronounce the clinical terms. However, as I understand it, broadly, the condition is to do with a failure to process proteins appropriately. It is inherited, it is incurable and the damage is neurological and very serious. The condition means that people have to calculate what they are eating and how they are eating it, almost down to the single frozen pea. An example was given of a toddler. It is bad enough feeding a toddler at any time, but imagine feeding a toddler and having to calculate what they have eaten, knowing that it could have devastating effects if it is not done properly.

That took me onwards to think about what happens when children go to nursery, and then to primary or secondary school. What happens when they go to a pal’s birthday party? There is a ripple that extends throughout their childhood. For a very long time, children will not understand why they have to do that, and they will certainly resent it. That will place huge stress on the person who is dealing with it. As I understand it, that is usually the women in the family. It means that people have to give up their work and therefore lose income. The ripples are enormous, and the challenges are huge.

I have heard that there are certain therapies and drugs that might alleviate the condition, although I do not think that they have gone before the Scottish Medicines Consortium yet. I also heard about dieticians, and I heard from the colleague who has been a dietician about what is required.

I represent the Borders and Midlothian, and I have no idea how many people in my constituency have PKU or what the facilities are, but that is not the end of the matter, because I am going to find out. After the debate, I intend to put a link to the debate on my Facebook and to ask people who know about the issue to tell me what is happening in their area. I will also write to NHS Borders to ask what facilities it has in place.

We all know about allergies, such as peanut allergies, milk allergies and this, that and the oatcake, but it is a sadness that people do not know about PKU, which is a fundamental, very serious and devastating inherited disease. However, I say to Fulton MacGregor that the good thing about members’ business debates—I do not like it when we have members’ business debates that are controversial and really party political, but this debate is not one of those; PKU is deserving of a debate, as was the subject of Tourette’s, on which we had a debate a few months back—is that we can bring a very serious and important minority issue into the public arena.

As I said, I am going to put a link to this debate on my Facebook, I am going to ask about it and I am going to find out what is happening in my constituency. I say to the guests in the public gallery that they have educated a politician, which is no mean feat, and that that politician will endeavour to educate her constituents. I hope that that will be helpful.

I have to say that I very much support John Mason’s case. It seems to be a case of out of sight, out of mind. After all, we put the sheep there in the first place and left them to their fate, and their fate is most unpleasant.

I am pleased to hear that the NTS is reviewing the situation, and I hope that it will take steps to ensure that those sheep are regarded as feral, not wild.