Address by Mr Noel Treacy, T.D., Minister for Science, Technology & Commerce, at the Opening of Data Dimensions, Castlebar, Co Mayo, on 11th December 1998 at 12 noon

I would like to welcome you all here today to the official opening of Data Dimensions here in Castlebar, the capital of Co. Mayo.

This development is very welcome one as it is the first IDA Ireland assisted international computer services operation to establish here in Castlebar. It has been followed by the establishment of Volex Ltd and American Power Conversion.

Data Dimensions now employs 20 people at Castlebar and this figure is to increase to 25 people early in 1999 with the company's total employment in the West of Ireland growing to a projected level of over 140 people by the end of next year.

It is most appropriate that Data Dimensions should choose Castlebar to locate their operation, given that Castlebar was a finalist in the Information Age Town Competition. Hopefully, we can all now build on these developments to make Castlebar a competitive location for future mobile international computer services investments.

A successful and prestigious company such as Data Dimensions, will be a key reference site for other companies investigating County Mayo as a location for International Services type projects.

Key factors in the success of this operation, both in Mayo and Galway, have been the combination of a strong Irish management team and the commitment of the skilled staff, nearly all of whom are computer graduates from regional Universities and Institutes of Technology, either in Castlebar or Galway, or indeed elsewhere in Ireland.

The Year 2000 issue has presented a major opportunity for companies such as Data Dimensions to develop their organisations at an accelerated rate while providing a crucial service to companies worldwide.

You may be aware that I, personally, have been taking a great interest in the Year 2000 problem for which I have political responsibility within Government. It was apparent that many businesses around the country were unaware of the many issues involved. To tackle this information deficit I established a National Year 2000 Campaign Committee earlier this year in order to promote business awareness of the Y2K problem. This brought together the expertise of a wide range of representatives in the private sector as well as some public sector representatives, also.

The National Committee were responsible for the production of detailed brochures on the subject and over 100,000 of these brochures were distributed around the country to various business interests. This document set out to demystify the problem and indicate the steps which business should follow to identify the problems in their own enterprises. It has been our experience that, when the initial foreboding of what is considered a very technical subject is overcome and people are prepared to get to grips with the issue, great progress can then be made, to resolve this very complex issue.

To bring the message to as wide an audience as possible, we organised a series of Conferences and roadshows at regional centres which involved presentations by a variety of expert speakers and this helped to spread the message to provincial areas that this complicated issue; would affect businesses around the country.

We are satisfied that there is a huge awareness of the Y2K problem, within the Business Community at this time. However, we at Government level are extremely worried that many small and medium sized companies may leave it too late to take vital and urgent action within their businesses, on this matter.

Consequently, we now have organised a major National Action Programme on Y2K which I will be launching next week. This is being co-ordinated by Enterprise Ireland along with the City and County Enterprise Boards.

I am very pleased today to be able to confirm that Data Dimensions will be included in the IRISH DIRECTORY OF Y2K PRODUCTS AND SERVICES being prepared by Enterprise Ireland for the delivery of the Y2K compliance programme to the Business Community nationwide. I heartily congratulate the company and wish it continued success, locally, nationally and internationally.

In February last, while on a visit to the United States of America, I visited Data Dimensions Head Office in Bellevue, Washington, in conjunction with the IDA. Mr Gordon A Gardiner, your Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and his management colleagues, briefed us on your company's strategy for resolving the Y2K problem. He also arranged for us to be briefed by a number of your top Specialists, from across America. One point that was made to me very forcefully was that while many companies may have addressed the year 2000 problem within their own systems, they will also be affected by their suppliers and customers who may not have dealt with the Year 2000 problems in their systems. I sincerely thank Mr Gardiner and his colleagues for their professional attention and for the time given so generously to us.

I would like to pay special tribute to IDA Ireland who persuaded Data Dimensions to locate here in the West of Ireland. In particular, I would like to pay special tribute to Mr Thomas Hyland Area Director for the Western Region and Mr Jim Murren Regional Manager; with responsibility for Counties Mayo and Galway. They have done sterling work for this region and I hope that they will be able to deliver many more excellent projects to the West, in the years ahead.

However, I am also pleased to note that while the main activity undertaken to date in Galway has been the provision of Year 2000 software conversion services for US clients, Data Dimensions has also strengthened its relationships with these companies. Data Dimensions has also strengthened the experience of its management team in order to secure contracts with a number of existing Year 2000 customers to completely take over these customers' software and applications maintenance on an outsourced basis.

This work will gradually take over from Year 2000 work on a phased basis. The addition of such new lines of business which will be progressively rolled out to substitute for the inevitable decline in demand for Year 2000 work, hereafter.

Before I finish, I wish to let you know that I have just secured an additional allocation of £5.6m million of EU Structural Funds to support In-Company Research, Technology and Innovation (RTI).

This further allocation to the RTI Scheme is continuing recognition by both the Irish Government and the European Commission of the importance of RTI for the competitiveness of Irish industry.

The In-company R&D Scheme, has been allocated £130m under the Operational Programme for Industrial Development 1994-1999, todate. With to-day's announcement, the total allocation has increased to almost £140 million. The scheme proved to be a resounding success and a total of 734 companies have been approved for assistance under these schemes since their inception. These figures show that there is a very encouraging demand for the Scheme and it is expected that this level of interest will continue with the extra allocation of these funds. Applications will be invited up to June 1999 when the last Call for Proposals will be made under the current round of Structural Funds.

Finally I wish to pay a special tribute to the Managing Director of Data Dimensions, here in Ireland, Mr John Costello. His leadership and vision have played a major role in both the development and success of the company, here in the West. I also wish to thank all of his colleagues in both Castlebar and Galway, for their dedication and diligence to the success of this very innovative company.

I would like to thank all of you for being here today and may I take this opportunity to wish everyone involved in this project every success in the years ahead.