Vol. 481 No. 1
238 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the plans, if any, which are in place to deal with the computer problems caused by the date change in 2000 within his Department and within the wider education sector; the estimated costs involved in implementing the respective plans; and whether provision has been made in the estimates framework for those costs. [15308/97]
: In line with advice provided by the Department of Finance, the following actions have been undertaken by my Department:
(a) my Department is ensuring that all new computer products purchased are year 2000 compliant and that all new developments will take the year 2000 into account; and
(b) a detailed inventory of all existing computer hardware and software in my Department has been compiled and a review of year 2000 compliance status has been undertaken in respect of each item in the inventory.
My Department is currently working towards the completion of a detailed implementation plan which will document all of the work necessary to ensure year 2000 compliance for all of the relevant computer systems. It is intended that compliance work will be completed on a first batch of computer programs before the end of 1997.
Estimates of the costs involved in ensuring that my Department achieves year 2000 compliance have been prepared and these are currently under discussion with the Department of Finance.
In line with a Government decision of 30 September 1997, my Department will also ensure that bodies under its aegis are addressing their year 2000 problem. All of the bodies concerned will be contacted shortly and requested to furnish my Department with details of their plans in this regard. Any necessary follow-up action will then be undertaken. Estimates of the costs involved are not available at present.
