To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost has been of overseas trips undertaken by the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, on behalf of the Scottish Government, since his appointment in 2021. (S6O-03330)

Details of all ministerial engagements are proactively published by the Scottish Government, as per section 9.17 of the ministerial code. Final cost details from the recent attendance at tartan week in the United States are still being finalised. I will write to the member with those details as soon as they are available.

Tartan week was a tremendous opportunity to promote Scotland as an excellent place to live, work, study, visit, invest and do business in. I am particularly grateful to the tartan week organisers in the United States and to the Scottish Government office in the United States, Scottish Development International, VisitScotland and all participants for ensuring that tartan week was such a success.

I am not sure that that was even an attempted answer to my questions and I am not sure why the cabinet secretary is being so evasive. Such trips are funded by taxpayers, who deserve to hear the answer right here in their Parliament about exactly what the costs have been.

As the cabinet secretary knows, the Scottish Government has come in for a lot of criticism for meddling in issues that are reserved to the UK Government. I would like to know, and I will give him one more opportunity to say, how much has been spent on all his trips since 2021. A figure would be useful.

It is disappointing that Edward Mountain just read out the supplementary that he had prepared before arriving in the chamber and listening to the answer that I gave him—

You did not answer my question.

I did answer the question—[Interruption.] As I said to Mr Mountain—if he will give me the opportunity to answer the question yet again—details of all international trips are, as he knows, published regularly by the Scottish Government.

As I have made clear—[Interruption.] Mr Mountain can huff and puff as much as he likes, but it is simply a statement of fact that, given that I returned from tartan week only recently, the latest travel information has not been finally compiled. As soon as it has been, it will be published, and I have said that we will forward it to the member. That is an entirely reasonable answer to an entirely reasonable question. I am sure that the member would not wish me to pluck numbers from the sky and answer questions without having the facts, which have not yet been compiled.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. We come to the chamber as members to get answers to questions, which we submit more than a week in advance. How do we expect members to be treated with respect in the chamber if they do not get answers? We are not being treated with respect if we are not being given answers, Presiding Officer. I would be grateful if you could give a ruling on whether a member has a chance to get an answer, and whether the cabinet secretary should answer the question that has been put to him.

Mr Mountain, you will know that the content of both questions and answers is not the responsibility of the chair.