Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 4 Nov 1999

Vol. 510 No. 2

Written Answers. - Computer Programmes.

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

45 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the state of preparedness of her Department and any agencies attached to her Department with regard to year 2000; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21880/99]

Nora Owen

Ceist:

83 Mrs. Owen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the state of preparedness of her Department and any agencies attached to her Department with regard to year 2000; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22049/99]

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ms Harney)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 45 and 83 together.

In July 1997, our Department developed a year 2000 plan which identified all of the IT hardware and software in operation within the Department and identified the action necessary to ensure that they are year 2000 compliant. An internal monitoring committee was set up with the remit of overseeing progress on the implementation of the year 2000 compliance plan for the Department and for the agencies that come within the Departments remit.

The Year 2000 compliance plan for the Department has been fully implemented and all necessary remedial action has been carried out. I am satisfied that our Department is fully prepared to meet any of the issues raised by the millennium bug.

The agencies that come within the remit of our Department which have already declared themselves year 2000 compliant are: FÁS, Forfás, the Health and Safety Authority, NET and the Crafts Council of Ireland. Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Shannon Development and the National Standards Authority of Ireland have completed remedial work on their business critical systems. Remedial work on their non-critical systems is almost complete and these agencies expect to have this work finalised by end of November 1999. The Department will continue to monitor closely developments in this regard.

Additionally, on foot of a Government decision this Department and its agencies have drawn up business continuity and staff cover plans for the millennium changeover period. The objective of these plans is to ensure continuity of critical business processes during and after the millennium changeover period. They describe how each organisation intends to respond to events which may disrupt normal operations by providing a road-map of predetermined actions which will enable resumption of an acceptable level of service at the earliest possible time. The plans are under continuous review in order to keep them abreast of the changing business requirements of the relevant organisations.