John Bruton
Ceist:48 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the expenditure to date by his Department in tackling the year 2000 problem. [17448/99]
Written Answers. - Computer Programmes.
Ruairí Quinn
Ceist:49 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach the progress of the working group within his Department to examine and assess problems for information systems with regard to the year 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17752/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 46 and 47 together.
In July 1999, my Department declared that its year 2000 compliance programme was complete. My Department has prepared contingency plans to ensure business continuity in the event of year 2000 problems arising. These plans have been approved by management and are currently undergoing external audit.
A substantial proportion of the time of staff in the IT division of my Department has been devoted to the y2k issue over the past two years. It is not feasible to estimate the cost of this separate from other work of the division. Other expenditure to date identified as relating to tackling the year 2000 problem has been £15,500 approximately. Most of this represents the cost of upgrading hardware and software.