Vol. 465 No. 1
59 Mr. Gallagher (Donegal South-West) asked the Minister for Finance the exact amount that the European Commission has granted to the Irish Government to promote the Europeanwide information campaign on the introduction of the Euro; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9242/96]
The European Commission proposed a sum of 19 million ecu in the 1996 EU budget for a communications plan for the introduction of the Euro, which is set to take place in January 2002. The Commissioner responsible, Mr. de Silguy, announced on 25 April that the European Parliament had agreed to release the full 19 million ecu for this purpose. Commissioner de Silguy said that for 1996, the Commission's priority would be to identify the necessary messages, establish the basic communications tools and establish close contacts with networks of opinion multipliers; it was likely that the financing needs for future years would develop beyond the 19 million ecu available in 1996. I understand that the process of allocation of funds from the 19 million ecu provision is in the initial stages.
The question of Ireland's participation in the ongoing communications plan is under consideration. The Deputy will be aware that information about economic and monetary union and the single currency was widely disseminated in Ireland in the period prior to the 1992 referendum on the Treaty on European Union.
