Vol. 488 No. 2
120 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Health and Children if his Department has a year 2000 project team in place; the length of time the team has been established; the progress made to date in 1998; the work it is anticipated that the team will have completed by 31 December 1998; and when the Department expects to have fully year 2000 compliant systems. [5950/98]
The work relating to year 2000 compliance within my Department is being carried out by staff in the corporate services division. This work began in early 1997 when all computer systems were assessed for their year 2000 compliance. This assessment was carried out by examining all internally developed systems, including operating systems, licensed software, database management systems, application development software, groupware software and personal productivity software. In addition, an inventory of all file servers, personal computers and communication equipment was developed.
To date it has been established that most of the internally developed systems are compliant but some older systems will require modification. Some systems have been identified which will be replaced. Hardware has also been identified which is not compliant but will be replaced or retired as obsolete before year 2000. This will also apply to office equipment such as fax and photocopiers. Packaged software and personal productivity software which allow users to create small databases and spreadsheet applications will require further testing before compliance is achieved. It is intended to test all applications for compliance during the second and third quarters of 1998.
