Mr. John D. TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if the land has been acquired for phases 2 and 3 of the Comber bypass; and if he will make a statement about progress with the design work for this bypass.
§ Mr. AtkinsLand acquisition and design work for phase 2 is well advanced. No work has commenced on phase 3 which currently falls outside the five-year major works programme.
Tattoos
§ Mrs. GormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list for each health authority in Northern Ireland the number of patients waiting for operations; and of those how many are waiting for the removal of tattoos.
§ Mr. HanleyInformation is not collected centrally on the numbers waiting for operations. The numbers of patients waiting for in-patient admission to the relevant surgical specialties in hospitals managed by each of the health and social service boards as at 31 March 1992 arc as follows:
Board All surgical specialties Plastic surgery Eastern 16,542 1,695 Northern 1,664 — Southern 1,298 — Western 3,489 — Northern Ireland 22,993 1,695 The removal of tattoos is only one of the procedures carried out within the specialty of plastic surgery and the number waiting for treatment is not available centrally.