Vol. 491 No. 3
472 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Education and Science the progress to date in ensuring that each agency within his remit is year 2000 compliant; the cost of work done so far; the estimated cost of full compliance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11793/98]
In line with a Government decision of 30 September 1997, my Department has requested that bodies under its aegis address the year 2000 issue. To this end a letter was sent to all the relevant agencies requesting that they address the issues involved, if they had not already done so, and submit their compliance plans to my Department.
External consultants have been retained to assist with the assessment of the returns made by the agencies; to produce a detailed advice note on the issue; to design a questionnaire which will be of use to my Department in monitoring progress; and to prepare a report which would indicate problem areas and make recommendations on how these could be resolved.
The questionnaire and accompanying advice note is currently being finalised and it is intended that the documentation will issue to the agencies in the near future. The bodies will be requested to return the completed questionnaire and also to provide an update on information already supplied to my Department. To assist them in this respect, information already supplied will be preprinted on the questionnaire forms.
