Vol. 505 No. 4
22 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance the meetings held and information or submissions made by his Department to the Comptroller and Auditor General prior to him publishing his recent report on the strategies adopted by the Civil Service to calculate the value for money aspect of Departments' preparedness to tackle the year 2000 problem; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12778/99]
My Department dealt with the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General and the appointed consultants on two fronts in relation to this report. First, in its central advisory role, through the Centre for Management and Organisational Development – CMOD – and second, as an individual Department under examination, through its IT unit.
Officials of my Department met representatives of the Comptroller and Auditor General's office on six occasions about this report prior to its publication. CMOD attended an initial briefing by the Comptroller and Auditor General on its proposed value for money study on 8 April 1998. Clarification of the role of the interdepartmental year 2000 monitoring committee was provided. On 30 June 1998, the IT unit of my Department attended a meeting to clarify the objectives of the value for money examination. On 21 July 1998, CMOD provided the consultants, engaged by the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General to conduct the examination, with clarification on the roles of the interdepartmental monitoring committee and CMOD. On 6 August 1998, clarification was provided to the IT unit on the detail of a questionnaire provided by the consultants. Clarification of the IT structure in my Department and the different roles of the IT unit and CMOD was provided to the consultants. On 8 October 1998, a meeting was held to discuss the consultants' queries on the Department's completed questionnaire. On 17 December 1998, CMOD provided comments to the Comptroller and Auditor General on the initial draft of its report.
In addition, my Department responded to all queries from that office and the consultants engaged by them to conduct the examination, making available any documents or files requested by them. My Department also provided written comments on an early draft of the report.
