Vol. 498 No. 4
360 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the extent of her Department's preparedness for the year 2000 problem, including agencies for which she is responsible; the amount of money contained in this year's departmental Estimates for dealing with the problem; the number of additional staff taken on to assist year 2000 work including any outside consultants involved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27233/98]
My Department has a work programme in place to deal with the year 2000 problem. Remedial work on all critical IT systems is at an advanced stage and will be completed early in 1999.
The achievement of year 2000 compliance for bodies under the aegis of my Department is primarily a matter for those bodies. However, a committee has been established within my Department to monitor and report on progress being achieved. Some bodies are already compliant, while others have programmes under way to achieve compliance. It is anticipated that all business-critical systems will be compliant before end-1999.
No specific amount of money was provided in this year's Estimates for year 2000 issues. Replacement and upgrading of hardware/ software, which, in any event, takes care of the year 2000 problem, is part of the normal ongoing IT programme in my Department.
No additional staff or outside consultants have been taken on to deal with year 2000 work.
