Vol. 485 No. 4
173 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if the computer programmes in use in his Department currently use a two digit year code or a four digit year code; if it is the former, the steps, if any, being taken to examine each line of computer programme in use in his Department to convert two digit to four digit codes to cope with the identification of the Year 2000; and, if so, when this conversion will be complete. [23486/97]
174 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of lines of computer code in use in his Department and in each agency under its aegis. [23501/97]
175 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will give an estimate of the cost of converting and testing computer programmes in use in his Department and in each agency under his aegis for the Year 2000 problem; and the conversion from the punt to the euro. [23518/97]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 173 to 175, inclusive, together.
During 1997 my Department has been carrying out a fundamental review of its information technology needs. One of the recommendations of this review, which has been accepted, is for a major replacement programme for out of date systems. The underlying need to have IT systems which are Year 2000 compliant and can handle four digit date codes was one of the key underlying factors in the acceptance of the recommendation. A specific Year 2000 and euro compliance sub-project invloving external consultants is now under way. The cost of this consultancy exercise will be approximately £20,000. Its objectives are to compile a comprehensive inventory of all computer based systems and microchip controlled equipment; identify any elements which have specific date of currency dependencies; confirm that the systems replacement projects will address the vast majority of problems; make specific recommendations in terms of replace, repair or discard where other elements come to light; identify fallback positions should the primary strategy be delayed.
The process of counting lines of existing code is not practicable in the context of the mixture of systems architectures either deployed or under development in my Department and its agencies. Although some of the mainframe based and Unix based systems do have line-counting utilities most of the systems do not. Even if it could be done, it would not justify the cost involved as, in the light of the strategy above, it would make no contribution to solving the Year 2000 problem in this Department.
Substantial systems development budgets are in place and systems with already identified Year 2000 problems are receiving first priority. While this problem alone would have resulted in some of the systems being replaced anyway, it would not be appropriate to allocate the entire development cost to it as many other benefits will be accruing to the organisations concerned as a result of the major investment across all the organisations under my aegis.
176 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if the computer programmes in use in her Department currently use a two digit year code or a four digit year code; if it is the former, the steps, if any, being taken to examine each line of computer programme in use in her Department to convert two digit to four digit codes to cope with the identification of the Year 2000; and, if so, when this conversion will be complete. [23490/97]
177 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the number of lines of computer code in use in his Department and in each agency under its aegis. [23505/97]
178 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if he will give an estimate of the cost of converting and testing computer programmes in use in his Department and in each Department under his aegis for the Year 2000 problem; and the conversion from the punt to the euro. [23522/97]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 176, 177 and 178 together.
There are an estimated 350,000 lines of programme code currently in use in my Department. Of this, approximately 96 per cent is already Year 2000 compliant, and the balance will be made compliant during 1998 by staff in my Department. Regarding the euro changeover, the Centre for Management and Organisation Development (CMOD) in the Department of Finance is co-ordinating all necessary changes to common financial systems in Departments, and accordingly, the cost to my Department will be minimal.
Since my Department was established, it has been the practice to code all year fields in computer programmes with four rather than two digits. In the case of the State-sponsored bodies under the aegis of my Department, CERT has, I understand, advised that it has approximately 1.5 million lines of programme code, and it estimates expenditure of £75,000 to test and convert its systems for Year 2000 compliance and for the euro changeover. Bord Fáilte advises that it has approximately 750,000 lines of code, but on the basis of the maintenance agreements in place with the relevant suppliers, does not anticipate at this stage any additional expenditure as a result of Year 2000 compliance or the euro changeover.
