Nicola Sturgeon has denied the awarding of a contract to Ferguson Marine to construct two ferries amounted to “jobs for the boys”.
The First Minister additionally claimed info had not been intentionally withheld from the Holyrood committee probing the Glen Sannox and the as-yet unnamed hull 802.
The 2 ferries are late in being accomplished and the potential price may exceed £300m - thrice the preliminary £97m contract.
Audit Scotland has warned of a “multitude of failings” within the supply of the 2 boats, that are nonetheless underneath building on the publicly-owned Port Glasgow shipyard.
In proof to MSPs, Sturgeon expressed “deep remorse” in regards to the affect on island communities.
Tory MSP Sharon Dowie requested why Sturgeon personally introduced Ferguson Marine, which on the time was owned by tycoon Jim McColl, as the popular bidder.
The First Minister stated it was common for her to take action, saying she was conscious that negotiations had been ongoing on the time.
Dowie stated: “Was there an curiosity from the Scottish Authorities to award the contract to FMEL (Ferguson Marine)?
“Was it a sort of ‘jobs for the boys’?
“There’s clearly been discuss of a sort of relationship between the Scottish Authorities and (proprietor) Jim McColl.”
On the time, in 2015, McColl was seen as being near the Scottish Authorities.
Sturgeon stated “jobs for the boys” was a pejorative time period which she refuted.
The First Minister stated she was not conscious of any impropriety within the procurement course of, however labelled allegations made in a current BBC documentary as “severe”.
The Auditor Basic is analyzing allegations the yard was in possession of a prolonged doc of technical specs earlier than its bid for the contract was submitted.
Sturgeon additionally reiterated her assist for the Authorities’s resolution to step in and nationalise Ferguson Marine - a call that angered McColl.
At the beginning of the session, committee convener Richard Leonard stated a submission from Transport Scotland was lacking key paragraphs, which later got here to mild.
Sturgeon stated there had been an error with the formatting of the unique letter and it was now printed in full on the committee’s web site.
She stated: “I don’t consider that there was any intention to mislead, not least as a result of it could have been very apparent to anyone who had any data of this.”
Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton stated: “Nicola Sturgeon launched a vessel with painted home windows. 5 years on, the First Minister’s ‘remorse’ that these ferries nonetheless haven’t really arrived received’t lower it for island communities.
“They've needed to navigate properly over 7,000 cancelled sailings this 12 months. It’s turn into so dangerous that islanders are even contemplating organising their very own ferry firm.
“Islanders might need extra hope of getting from A to B if Nicola Sturgeon hadn’t launched extra independence campaigns than ferries.”
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