Scotland's health secretary will address 'limogate' concerns around his use of a ministerial car to attend football games at Hampden.
Pressure has been growing on Neil Gray after it emerged he had watched Aberdeen - the team he supports - in major cup ties, using the taxpayer funded transport to do so.
Now, he will deliver a ministerial statement in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday afternoon.
The Scottish Government said Mr Gray was attending the national football stadium as a guest of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) to discuss "essential" business.
The Airdrie and Schotts MP, who was raised in Orkney, was gifted VIP seats on three occasions to watch the Dons play Hibernian, Rangers and Celtic in League Cup and Scottish Cup fixures.
Minutes of the meetings that took place have not been published. However, in declaring them, he said excursions were in connection with his time as Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy Secretary before moving onto the health brief.
Following the revelations, Scottish Tory deputy leader Rachel Hamilton called on Mr Gray to "explain the full facts" to Holyrood.
Ms Hamilton described the situation as "another Michael Matheson affair".
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Mr Gray took over the health brief in February 2024 after his predecessor Mr Matheson resigned over an expenses scandal.
The former health secretary was found to have misused a parliamentary iPad, which had incurred roaming charges of almost £11,000.
The sum, occurred during a family holiday in Morocco, was originally paid for from the public purse before Mr Matheson repaid the bill. He was also suspended from parliament for a record 27 days.
A Scottish Government spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday that Mr Gray will address MSPs on the controversy.
Ms Hamilton has urged the health secretary to outline how the trips were classed as government business.
She said: “The Scottish Conservatives have successfully forced Neil Gray into making a statement to parliament on his chauffeur scandal.
"His defences are getting weaker by the minute and by delaying the statement to Thursday, it looks like the SNP are buying more time to try and get their story straight.
“This scandal reeks of the Michael Matheson affair. Once again, the public seem to be picking up the bill for an SNP minister to watch the football.
“The public’s trust in SNP politicians is broken and they are sick and tired of their rank hypocrisy.
“It's time Neil Gray and other SNP ministers stopped hiding behind political spin and admitted exactly what they have done.”
“Neil Gray’s limogate scandal sums up why many of the public think SNP politicians are totally disconnected from what is happening in the real world.”
The first trip gifted to Mr Gray occurred on November 4 2023 during his time in the Wellbeing Economy roles, where he watched Aberdeen beat Hibernian 1-0 at Hampden in the semi finals of the League Cup.
He registered the ministerial engagement as discussing the "social impact investment in sport".
He was back at Hampden on December 17, courtesy of the SFA, where he watched Aberdeen's final clash against Rangers, where his team lost 1-0.
Weeks after his appointment as health secretary, he returned to Hampden on April 20 2024 to watch Aberdeen take on Celtic in the semi finals of the Scottish Cup.
The engagement this time was only registered as "sport".
The Scottish Government said that Mr Gray was performing his duties as health and sport secretary.
Politicians are allowed to accept gifts as long as they are declared.
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Ministers are also entitled to publicly-funded transport as part of their job. However the policy states it cannot be provided for journeys "where the principle purpose is not connected to the performance of ministerial duties".
A spokesperson said: “Ministers are invited to a range of engagements and attend select events in an official capacity, details of which we publish proactively.
This is an essential part of government business that allows ministers to engage and build relationships with key stakeholders and to help promote Scotland as a place to visit, work and invest in.
“All travel costs are in accordance with travel and subsistence policies to ensure we deliver the best value for money possible for the Scottish public.”
Other Scottish ministers, including rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon, community safety minister Siobhian Brown and employment minister Tom Arthur, were also chauffeured to sports events.
It follows weeks of backlash against Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer who was locked in a donations row.
It emerged he had been gifted more than £100,000 in freebies since becoming Labour leader in 2020.
The SNP were among those who strongly condemned the revelations.
The Prime Minister announced last month he would pay back around £6,000 for the gifts he received since entering Downing Street in July.
The cost of six tickets to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour was among the gifts paid back, amounting to £2,800.
He also reimbursed the costs of four tickets and hospitality to Doncaster Races, worth £1,936.
Gifts not paid back include £2,400 tickets to Chelsea vs Arsenal, £1,000 tickets for Newcastle United vs Arsenal.
A string of other Arsenal matches he attended were not paid back, including £3,000 tickets gifted by the Premier League to watch Arsenal play Porto.
Sir Keir also took £1,000 in hospitality tickets from Arsenal.
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