Minister Treacy Warns of Business Failures Because of Lack of Preparedness for the Millennium Bug Minister Urges Companies to Put Contingency Plans in Place

The results of a second survey undertaken by Landsdowne Market Research on behalf of Enterprise Ireland to measure the preparedness of Irish Business for the Y2K issue concluded that "Irish Business is aware, but not prepared for the Millennium Bug. Business failures can be expected," according to Mr. Noel Treacy T.D., Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce today (Wednesday, 21st July, 1999).

Minister Treacy said "It is vital that businesses take action to address the issue. The majority have ignored the key step of putting in place a contingency plan. Business failures can be expected to result from the Millennium Bug. The extent of these failures largely depends on what action is taken between now and December. There are close to one million people working in businesses who's chief executives or managers believe they will not be effected by the Millennium Bug".

Contingency planning is a vital step in addressing the Millennium Bug, yet the survey results indicate that only one in five Irish companies claim to have a contingency plan in place and alarmingly only one in four can recall what it consists of. For many small companies who may not themselves be particularly reliant on information technology or embedded chips in their businesses a key element in their Y2K strategy should be a contingency plan to address unexpected disruption that can arise from elsewhere. "The lack of such plans is a particular cause for concern," according to Minister Treacy.

Another area of major concern highlighted by the survey results is the fact that 7 out of 10 Irish companies are convinced their suppliers will not be affected by the Millennium Bug and only one in five has had a face to face meeting with key suppliers to discuss the issue.

Commenting on the results Minister Treacy said "I urge all Irish companies to be realistic - put in place a contingency plan, talk directly to your suppliers and do so as a matter of urgency. Ignoring the Y2K issue is simply not an option. Act today".