Those companies adopting a wait-and-see attitude to the millennium bug got a bit of a shake-up this week with a new survey which indicated that companies might be forced out of business and staff put on to the dole.

The Enterprise Ireland survey showed 90 per cent of companies were confident their operations would not be disrupted but this figure is not matched by those which have done anything about the problem.

More sobering was the news that, of those firms which have reviewed their key business systems, two-thirds have found one or more key functions which will not operate normally.

It looks like the series of advertisements warning businesses of the need for action now has some way to go to penetrate the minds of its target audience.