Ireland recently published the second edition of its National Plan for the changeover to the single currency, the euro. The first edition of the Plan was published in May 1997. Like its predecessor, the second edition has been approved by the Irish Government and is based on the assumption that Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) will start on 1 January 1999 and that Ireland will be a member of it from the outset.

The first edition of the Plan outlined the changeover arrangements that will be made by Government Departments, the Central Bank of Ireland. the National Treasury Management Agency and the Revenue Commissioners (tax authorities), as well as by banks and building societies and the Irish Stock Exchange, and promised that the Plan would be extended to include other parts of the public sector, including State-sponsored bodies, local authorities and health boards. The second edition fulfils this promise, as well as developing as appropriate the arrangements set out by bodies covered by the first edition. The second edition also includes an Appendix which describes the changeover work being done by various public bodies and trade and professional associations in Ireland and lists contact points in them.

The designs for euro notes and coins, including the design for the Irish face of euro coins, are also shown.

Briefly. on 1 January I999, EMU will begin and the euro will come into being as the currency of the participating member States. It will be useable for cashless transactions (e.g. cheques and credit transfers) from that date. However, euro notes and coins will not be available for a further three years, so Irish pound notes and coins will continue in use and all banking facilities currently available in Irish pounds will continue to be available: in other words, individuals will be able to operate in Irish pounds as they do at present. On 1 January 2002, euro notes and coins will be put into circulation and by 1 July 2002 at the latest (probably a good deal earlier), Irish pound notes and coins will cease to be legal tender and the changeover to the euro will be complete.

THE KEY POINTS OF THE PLAN ARE THAT FROM IRELAND'S ENTRY INTO EMU:
 
 

• The public sector will accept payment in euro as well as in Irish pounds.

• Public sector internal financial and accounting systems will continue in Irish pounds and staff, pension and social welfare payments will continue in Irish pounds.

• In general, the public sector will also continue to make other payments in Irish pounds. However, where a supplier presents an invoice in euro, payment will usually be made in euro.

• All budgetary, financial and economic publications from the Irish Department of Finance, e.g. the Budget, Estimates, Economic Review and Outlook, Accounts and Exchequer returns, will provide summary information in euro.

• Central Bank of Ireland operations in the Irish wholesale money and foreign exchange markets will be denominated in euro.

• The tax authorities will accept payment of any tax in euro as well as in Irish pounds. They will also accept returns and declarations in euro from companies and for self-assessed (ie self-employed) income tax (subject in the case of some taxes to an irrevocable election to adopt the euro as the reporting currency for that tax).

• New issues of Irish Government bonds, bills and notes which would otherwise have been denominated in Irish pounds or other currencies which are being replaced by the euro will be denominated in euro.

• All outstanding Irish Government bonds, bills and notes which were issued in and are to be redeemed in Irish pounds will be redenominated in euro.

• Companies may file their accounts with the Companies Registration Office in euro.

• Tenders for public contracts may be submitted in euro.

• Bills from the large public utilities will continue to be in Irish pounds. Payment will of course be accepted in euro as well as in Irish pounds

• Any banking service required in euro will be available in Ireland.

• Banks and building societies will process lodgements and payments expressed in either Irish pounds or euro regardless of which of these the customer account is denominated in and will credit them to the customer's account in whichever of the two currencies the account is held in. Customers will be encouraged to use electronic means in making or receiving euro payments, but euro cheques and credit transfers will also be available. Charges for domestic transactions in euro will be the same as charges for similar domestic Irish pound transactions.

• In general, banks and building societies, where requested, will provide current loan and savings accounts denominated in euro. Service charges for such accounts will be the same as for similar Irish pound accounts.

• At the request of customers, banks and building societies will convert existing current loan and savings accounts denominated in Irish pounds or other participating currencies into euro on a once-off basis free of charge.

• The participants in the Dublin interbank market will discontinue the provision of reference rates for the calculation of DIBOR and will adopt EURIBOR (the proposed reference rate for the euro area) as the standard for the Dublin market.

• Irish equities which had been traded and settled in Irish pounds will be traded and settled on the Irish Stock Exchange in euro only.

• Assuming that the European Council confirms in 1998 that Ireland fulfils the necessary conditions for entering EMU, a Currency Changeover Board will be established under the aegis of the Department of Finance after the European Council's decision in order to oversee the detailed implementation of the changeover, including the areas of public and consumer information.

FROM THE INTRODUCTION OF EURO NOTES AND COINS IN IRELAND
 
 

• The public sector will make and accept payment in euro.

• All banking services hitherto in Irish pounds and other participating currencies will be in euro. Existing accounts denominated in Irish pounds and other participating currencies will be converted to the euro at the appropriate fixed conversion rates free of charge.

In launching the second edition of the National Changeover Plan, Ireland's Minister for Finance, Mr Charlie McCreevy TD, thanked all the various bodies involved in drawing it up and said that publication of the second edition showed the extent of the practical work being done across the economy, both in the private and the public sectors, to prepare for the changeover to the euro. Publication of the second edition will encourage economic agents to intensify their preparations so that Ireland will have a smooth and orderly transition to the euro.

The second edition of the National Changeover Plan is available on the Internet on the Department of Finance page on <http://www.irlgov.ie/finance> and on the website of Ireland's EMU Business Awareness Campaign on <http://www.emuaware.forfas.ie>

 
16-01-1998