asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have proposals to build a bypass around Enniskillen in County Fermanagh; and, if so, what they are. [HL1226]

The chief executive of Roads Service (Dr Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the noble Lord in response to this question.

Letter from Dr Malcolm McKibbin to Lord Laird dated January 2007.

You recently asked Her Majesty's Government a Parliamentary Question about whether they have proposals to build a bypass around Enniskillen in County Fermanagh; and, if so, what they are. As this issue falls within my responsibility as chief executive of Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.

I am pleased to advise that a proposal for a 3.2 kilometre-long single carriageway bypass to the south of Enniskillen was included in the consultation document Expanding the Strategic Road Improvement Programme (ESRIP). The consultation period for this £400 million package of major road upgrades ran for a nine-week period, closing on 29 September 2006. In excess of 80 responses were received and, while analysis of the feedback is ongoing, I can advise that it included support for the A4 Enniskillen southern bypass.

The expanded programme is part of the investment strategy for Northern Ireland, which envisages the additional funding to be available towards the end of the period between now and 2015. Once the ESRIP is finalised, each scheme will be progressed on a measure-by-measure basis, subject to detailed economic appraisal, clearing the relevant statutory procedures and the availability of funds through the normal budgetary processes.