Vol. 510 No. 1
122 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the current state of preparedness of his Department and any agencies attached to his Department with regard to year 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21903/99]
This Department was one of the first to recognise the need for a Y2K project. An impact assessment study was initiated in 1996 and Government approval was sought by me and obtained in the second half of 1997 for a special draw down fund of £8.5 million for the project.
Compliance work was completed by July 1999 for all computer systems which support the Department's core business of processing claims and making payments across a wide variety of schemes. Some systems such as child benefit, family income supplement and old age pensions are already handling dates beyond 31 December 1999.
The Department has also completed any necessary year 2000 related testing and upgrading of computer hardware, system software and network components. A series of integration tests between the Department and a number of external key suppliers who have computer links to the Department has also been completed.
Bodies under the aegis of the Department, that is, Combat Poverty Agency, the Pensions Board and the NSSB have all completed their year 2000 compliance projects. Work continues on the final stages of testing a small amount of residual, non-critical software. The Department is also putting in place an extensive year 2000 business continuity programme to ensure that any unforeseen disruption in service, however unlikely, is properly managed and promptly resolved. This will involve ensuring that essential checks are undertaken over the millennium weekend and that, where necessary, contingency arrangements, agreed in advance with local management, are put in place.
