Vol. 485 No. 4
181 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science 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. [23480/97]
182 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of lines of computer code in use in his Department and in each agency under its aegis. [23495/97]
183 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science 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. [23512/97]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 181, 182 and 183 together.
My Department is currently implementing a plan which will ensure that all of its computer systems are Year 2000 and euro compliant. A detailed inventory of all of the Department's IT systems has been prepared and this identifies the applications requiring modification.
The computer systems in use in my Department use a mixture of two digit and four digit year code formats depending on the particular application. The staff responsible for developing and maintaining each computer system have been assigned the task of carrying out the necessary modification and other related work. It is intended that the vast majority of work will be completed during 1998 with some remaining to be completed by summer 1999 at the latest. Due to the nature of the different types of computer applications and computer platforms in my Department the number of lines of computer code in use is not readily available. The compilation of such a statistic would not make any practical contribution to the task of achieving compliance which is now under way.
The estimated cost involved in making the necessary software changes is £450,000, including software and contract staff costs, but excluding Department staff costs.
In line with a Government decision, my Department has requested bodies under its aegis address their Year 2000 and euro problems. The bodies concerned have been requested to furnish my Department with details of their plans in this regard by mid-January 1998. Estimates of the costs involved are not available at present.
