Highlands and Islands MSP Donald Cameron has welcomed an announcement from the Scottish Government that it plans to convene a national summit on the future of Gaelic.

Mr Cameron urged the Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, to take action during the summer following the publication of a report on the language’s prospects – The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community - by the University of the Highlands and Islands.

The Scottish Conservative MSP said: “I am pleased that Mr Swinney has now positively responded to my calls earlier this year for a national summit on the future of Gaelic."

"If we don’t act soon it may be too late to save Gaelic as a living community language.

“Ultimately the future of the language rests in the hands of local people in the Gaelic-speaking areas. But there is also a role for Government in securing this language for the nation.

"Any summit must be followed up by a plan which actually makes a positive difference.”