Strategies adopted by the Civil Service and State agencies to tackle the Year 2000 Millennium Bug problem have failed to incorporate a method by which value for money could be calculated, the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr John Purcell, has concluded.

Mr Purcell says that although the strategies are "appropriate" and projects are proceeding according to plan, "there is no centralised system to comprehensively and systematically monitor full costs", originally envisaged to amount to £12.8 million (#16.25).

In his examination of how funds have been spent to counter the possible breakdown in "key systems" which are necessary to public services, Mr Purcell looked at how compliance work has been managed in three Government departments - Finance, Agriculture and Food, and Social, Community and Family Affairs - the Revenue Commissioners, and in the Central Bank and the National Treasury Management Agency.

He also looked at examined how other departments are monitoring the projects being carried out by other bodies in their areas. He says that a £40 million (#50.8 million) contingency fund established at the end of last year by the Department of Finance is expected to be used in the health sector.