Vol. 504 No. 7
109 Mr. Stanton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 81 and 86 of 21 April 1999 the international observers who have placed Ireland in the same league as Australia, Canada, Holland, United Kingdom and the United States of America as being in the best state of readiness with regard to the year 2000 issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12582/99]
This rating was given by the Gartner group, who are an international consultancy organisation dealing particularly with I.T. issues. They have published a considerable body of research of the year 2000 computer problem and they undertake periodic reviews of worldwide readiness across a wide range of categories. Their inclusion of Ireland in the group of countries with the highest status is welcome confirmation of our progress on this subject.
110 Mr. Stanton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the state of readiness of her Department with regard to the year 2000 computer issue; if she will report on the position in relation to hardware and software; if a statement of compliance of readiness has been issued; if not, if and when such a statement will be issued; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12587/99]
In July 1997, our Department developed a year 2000 plan which identified all of the IT hardware and software in operation within our Department and identified the action necessary to ensure that they are year 2000 compliant. An internal monitoring committee was set up with the remit of overseeing progress on the implementation of the year 2000 compliance plan for the Department and for the agencies that come within our Departments remit. This committee meets fortnightly to ensure continuous and scheduled progress on the project.
I wish to assure the Deputy that I am satisfied with the progress being made in our Department towards achieving full year 2000 compliance. The Government has set 31 July 1999 as the deadline for achieving compliance on all fatal and critical systems across all Government Departments and our Department is on schedule to meet this deadline.
