189 Mr. D. Carey asked the Minister for Finance if he has received a copy of the consultant's report regarding continual flooding by the River Fergus of the national primary road at Old Mill Street, Ennis, County Clare, and also flooding of commercial areas such as Parnell Street, Parnell Street car park and Carmady Street; and if ?10 million will be allocated for this urgent programme during 2002. [6628/02]

The Office of Public Works has received the final report of the Ennis main drainage and flooding study and a preliminary cost benefit analysis of the proposals for flood alleviation contained in the report. The Office of Public Works provided funding of €111,102 to Ennis town council as a contribution to the cost of these reports.

The reports are currently being examined by the officials in Office of Public Works. An essential part of the process of examining proposals for flood relief is consideration of the environmental implications of any proposed work. In this context, it is noted that an environmental impact assessment has not been carried out in conjunction with the final report. My officials have contacted the town council with a view to commissioning an EIS. When this is available, the question of initiating a flood relief scheme can be comprehensively addressed.