Vol. 511 No. 6
150 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the status of contingency plans in relation to the Y2K computer problems in the event of a systems failure in his Department and all agencies under his aegis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25437/99]
My Department has finalised a contingency plan for all critical business, including all sections at headquarters and regional offices. The contingency plan deals with business critical areas – the Irish Marine Emergency Service, building services and maintenance, IT and communications services, accounts branch, forest service, sea fisheries administration and exploration and mining division. The plan entails a fall back position for those functions to enable them to continue in a diminished state sufficient to ensure that the critical business requirements can be met.
My Department oversees the work of 14 State agencies, nine port companies and 18 harbour authorities. I have personally reiterated to the chairperson of each agency the particular priority attached to the requirement for contingency planning and our monitoring responses, with a view to ensuring that business contingency plans are put in place.
