Bank of Ireland's Year 2000 millennium bug preparations have cost the group £45 million (€57.14 million) over the last three years. The project has become the largest group-wide task undertaken by the bank, spanning its 60 business units. The bank said yesterday it was "confident but not complacent" it could cope with possible disruption when its electronic and information technology systems make the transition to January 1st, 2000.

When the millennium rings in, the bank will have a team of more than 100 on-site staff operating its computer centre in Cabinteely, Co Dublin. Bank of Ireland management is negotiating a payment package with staff to compensate them for the hours worked on New Year's Eve.

Mr Myles O'Neill, Bank of Ireland Group 2000 programme co-ordinator, said: "It will probably be worked out on an hourly basis, and we expect that we will have to recognise people's efforts for the overtime worked."

Bank of Ireland says its Y2K project is nearing completion. Mr O'Neill says the approach taken to the management of the Y2K project has set a precedent for the bank's handling of other non-Y2K related projects, including its EMU strategy.

The bank has also taken into account the potential knock-on effect of the Y2K bug on customers' banking behaviour before the millennium. It has set aside extra resources to deal with increased demand for cash and consumables like cheque books and statements.

"There will be no need for customers to take any additional measures themselves such as ordering extra statements or cheque books or making large withdrawals of cash around the new year. Detailed planning and necessary resources have been put into this project to ensure that there will be no disruption for our customers," Mr O'Neill said.

All of the bank's automated teller machines have been tested to behave as they would during the changeover to January 1st, 2000, and systems which process customer transactions and statements have been made compliant.

Since late 1996 more than 400 people have worked on the project, dedicating the equivalent of more than 370 years to the task. Software testing accounted for half of the total effort, including investigation and renovation of more than 20 million lines of code. Much of the code was processed through IBM's code renovation factory in Dublin.

Mr Brendan Whelan, the bank's general manager of information technology, said: "We hope we are helping allay any fears that people may have about the millennium bug. Unfounded hysteria or unnecessary concerns about the problem will not serve to benefit anyone and could damage Ireland's economy in the run-up to the new millennium."