Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 504, Uimh. 505 agus Uimh. 506 le chéile.
I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 360 of 15 December 1998. There are five members of staff responsible for my Departments IT systems. 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 being carried out by those staff members. All IT systems, office equipment and plant in my Department are scheduled to be year 2000 compliant by 30 June 1999. My Department will publish details of its year 2000 programme in the near future.
As I have already informed the Deputy, 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.