ADDRESS BY MR NOEL TREACY, T.D., MINISTER FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND COMMERCE AT THE SOCIETY OF CHARTERED SURVEYORS YEAR 2000 CONFERENCE AT THE CONRAD HOTEL ON WEDNESDAY 25th NOVEMBER 1998

I am delighted to open this Conference on 'Year 2000 Issues for Construction and Property Professionals' organised by the Society of Chartered Surveyors. The problem referred to as the Millennium Bug is now well and truly on the National Business Agenda and is receiving increasing attention from Professional Bodies, such as your Society, as well as Media coverage. It is encouraging that as a consequence of the efforts of our Government and other Bodies, that Business interests seem to have absorbed the message that these Problems are looming fast.

As far as the Government is concerned, our involvement in the Year 2000 Computer Problem is twofold. Firstly, we have been organising a Campaign to make Business Aware of the Problem and secondly, we have a responsibility to put the Government's own house in order so that the huge range of Public Services provided by the State and its many Agencies, both to Businesses and the Consumer, will be unaffected into the new Millennium.

The critical aspect is Awareness. It was apparent that many Businesses around the Country were unaware of the issues involved. To tackle this Information deficit I established a Year 2000 National Campaign Committee, earlier this year, in order to promote Business Awareness across the Country. This brought together the expertise of a wide range of Representatives in the private sector as well as some Public Sector Representatives.

The Committee were responsible for the production of a detailed Brochure on the subject and over 100,000 of these Brochures were distributed around the Country to 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 be made.

To bring the message to as wide an Audience as possible, we organised a series of Conferences and Roadshows at Regional Centres. These involved Presentations by a variety of Expert Speakers and several Local Business interests were also involved at each location. These Sessions were held in Athlone, Cork, Dundalk, Galway, Limerick, Sligo and Waterford. These Conferences helped to spread the message to Provincial Areas that this issue would affect Businesses around the Country.

The culmination of these Events was the National Conference held in UCD in early September which was addressed by An Taoiseach, Mr Bertie Ahern, T.D. The Media coverage of that excellent Event has further helped to spread the Awareness message. Since then I, or officials of our Department, have addressed a number of Conferences organised by Professional Bodies - Accountants, Insurance, Irish Computer Society, City and County Enterprise Boards to name but a few, delivering the same urgent message about the impending Year 2000 Computer Problem. I personally have availed of every opportunity to speak about this matter on radio and television and in the media generally.

I would like to emphasise that the Government cannot solve this Problem for Business. Our role has been to create Awareness of the issue and alert the Business Community to the many aspects of this complex Problem. Individual Enterprises and other users of Computer Systems must get to work to identify the issues as they affect them and devise solutions. This is primarily a Management or Business issue, just like other Management issues which arise all the time in the running of business.

This also affects, through the embedding of Computer Chips, much of the equipment used in Everyday Household and Industrial Activities, such as Lifts, Mobile Phones, Fax Machines, Security Systems, Environmental Control and Water Systems.

While many large Organisations have major Year 2000 Programmes underway to address the Millennium Date Problem, the Government is seriously concerned that the Small to Medium Enterprise sector, is not responding as well at it should.

This is borne out by the Results of a Survey, of the level of compliance of Irish Businesses undertaken recently by the Irish Computer Society and the Chambers of Commerce in Ireland. The Results of the Survey found that 90% of Businesses understood the Business issues regarding the Year 2000 Problem and that over 70% have commenced action in their own Businesses. However, many Businesses have not completed their inventory of Software and Embedded Systems nor had they assessed possible damage to their Businesses from other enterprises in their Supply Chain . The results of the Survey show that Smaller Businesses, in particular, still have a lot of work to do. I, along with my advisors, am continuing to monitor the situation and we are currently considering what further measures could be taken, to encourage and support Small Businesses in this project.

As regards Central Government, all Government Departments and the Bodies under their aegis have prepared comprehensive Year 2000 Action Plans which identified the extent of Problems and how Systems needed to be changed, altered or upgraded to ensure that their Activities can run smoothly into the next Millennium. The Government established an Interdepartmental Year 2000 Committee to oversee the changes necessary and this Committee has been hard at work to ensure that all Departments are taking the required corrective action.

The early findings of the Committee identified Problems similar to the issues faced by the Private Sector, namely, slipping Timetables, losses of crucial IT Staff, over-reliance on External Consultancies and problems in the areas of Office Equipment. The issue of IT Staff losses has been identified as a major one and with the increasing level of demand for IT Specialists as we near the crucial date, this Problem will be exacerbated. Ireland has been represented at a number of international workshops, in Brussels and London, on the Year 2000 Problem. These meetings have thrown up some interesting pointers, in particular, stronger international co-operation is essential, particularly in relation to cross-border testing, given global economic interdependence and the particular interconnections in such areas as energy, telecommunications, transport and international financial interconnections.

The Threat which this Problem poses is a real one, which, if ignored any longer, by any Business, could have very serious implications for the ability of Companies to continue to operate. I am calling on all Businesses in the Construction and Property sectors to take the necessary Action now, to recognise the need for Contingency Planning particularly to combat the Threat posed by Embedded Chips.

I would now like to turn to an equally serious, although separate, issue facing Irish Businesses at the present time. The Euro's introduction on 1 January 1999 will present new opportunities and challenges for Irish business. In order to avail of these new opportunities Irish companies will need to be fully prepared and have carefully considered the key implications which the introduction of the Euro may have on their Businesses.

There is no common response to the Euro that can be adopted by every organisation. Organisations trading in Europe, or with European business partners, may have to transact in Euros at an early stage, for example, once the exchange rates are irrevocably fixed in 1999. Others may not have to switch over until Euro notes and coins are introduced in 2002. Each of these approaches has different business implications, and each will have different impacts on Information Technology systems. To do this effectively, organisations need a Business Strategy for its introduction.

I would like you to consider these issues in a wider framework. As you all know, the National Economy - particularly the Construction and Property sector, is performing remarkably well at present. This Country needs this progress to be maintained without interruption. We are now in the healthy position of steadily reducing Unemployment; of creating very significant Numbers of New Jobs Annually and of having the Government Finances in a very healthy state.

This healthy position must be maintained. We live in a fast changing Business Environment with Global challenges ever-present. We should not be lulled into any false sense of security on the issue of maintaining our Competitiveness. Our Businesses must maintain their flexibility and capacity to do Business and seek out opportunities at all times. It would be a serious setback if the Year 2000 Issues which we are discussing to-day were to put any brake on progress or hinder our Business Community from achieving their full potential in generating Economic Growth and creating Sustainable Employment. With Capital and Investment so mobile, we can never rest from the overriding issue of ensuring that we retain our Competitiveness, which has been such a crucial factor in our Economic well-being.

I know that many of you here today have been taking these issues very seriously. I sincerely congratulate the Society of Chartered Surveyors on organising this very interesting and important Conference and wish you all every success in your deliberations, and in all your future activities.