Emmet Stagg
Question:72 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Finance when the currency changeover board will be established; if he will give details of its composition; where it will be located; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19707/97]
Written Answers. - Economic and Monetary Union.
My Department published EMU and the euro: Ireland's National Changeover Plan in May this year. The plan states that assuming that the European Council confirms in 1998 that Ireland fulfils the necessary conditions for adoption of the euro, a Currency Changeover Board (CCB) will be established after the European Council's decision in order to oversee the detailed implementation of the changeover. The European Council decision on which member states qualify for the adoption of the euro is expected to be taken in early May 1998.
The composition of the Currency Changeover Board has yet to be decided. However, the National Changeover Plan states that the Euro Changeover Group (ECG) is expected to provide the nucleus of the board. The ECG comprises representatives from ICTU, IBEC, the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland, the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs, the Irish Bankers' Federation, the Irish Mortgage and Savings Association, the Irish Insurance Federation, the Irish Farmers Association, the Irish Stock Exchange and the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (Ireland), the National Lottery, and Forfás and a member of the Cees-Maas Expert Group on the changeover to the single currency which reported to the EU Commission in May 1995, as well as officials from the Departments of Finance and Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Central Bank. The Group's function is to advise the Department on technical issues in the run-up to the 1998 European Council decision and to help co-ordination of the changeover across the economy.
My Department is currently in the process of identifying a suitable premises for the board in Dublin.