There are three agencies within the remit of my Department — the Pensions Board, the National Social Services Board and the Combat Poverty Agency. My Department has set up a year 2000 monitoring committee with responsibility for monitoring progress with regard to achievement of year 2000 compliance in each of the agencies. The committee meets every two months.
The agencies are in the process of drawing up plans for identifying and resolving year 2000 compliance issues that might affect computer hardware or software and any other equipment which contains an embedded computer chip. These are to be forwarded to the committee by the end of May. Costs associated with the year 2000 compliance projects to be undertaken in the agencies will not be known until these plans have been completed.